ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 874 http://www.s-gabriel.org/874 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 19 May 1998 From: Randy Dees Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You asked whether could have been used as a middle name or patronymic for an Italian lady around 1500. Here is what we found. Our modern notion of a middle name did not have any real parallels in later-period Italy. Double given names or compound given names appear in northern Italy around the 13th century and were reasonably common from the 14th century onward. The difference between a modern middle name and a compound given name is one of usage: In modern usage, we almost never use our middle names; they are extra names for very formal occasions. In period use, compound names were treated as single given names rather than as two separate names [3]. But there are a variety of name constructions appropriate to the period you asked about which contain three or more elements, and one of them may prove satisfactory. We'll discuss those in a moment. Patronymics were extremely common in period Italian naming. The most common form of patronymic was plus the father's given name, like . There were many variations on this basic theme. is a common name in later-period Italy. The most common surname derived from it is , although is found as a variant. [1] We have also found the form , which could be either a true patronymic or an inherited family surname as . While our knowledge of period Italian naming practices is incomplete, we do know that was the moost common preposition used in forming patronymics, so is more likely to have been used than . We recommend a name of the one of the following forms, in order of preference. Pagola di Michele Pagola, daughter of Michele Pagola di Michele Berardi Pagola, daughter of Michele Berardi Pagola de' Micheli Pagola of the Micheli Of course, (a form of found in the period you asked about) is merely one possible given name. You can find a list of other given names from your period on the web at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/italian.html It appears that you have contacted us on behalf of a client. If this request has been for your own education, please excuse this assumption. We prefer to work directly with the client in order to minimize the chances of any mis-interpretation when information is passed through a second party. If this request is for a client who has e-mail or web access, we can provide further help to the client if they ask us directly. If not, thank you for passing the query along. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write again if any part has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Zenobia Naphtali, Arval Benicouer, Evan da Collaureo, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Talorgen nei Wrguist 19 May 1998 ------------------------------------------ References [1] de Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978) [2] Fucilla, Joseph G., _Our Italian Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996); orig. publ. Evanston, Il., 1949. [3] Menant, F., "L'Italie Centro-Septentrionale", in Monique Bourin, Jean-Marie-Martin, and Francois Menant, eds., _L'Anthroponymie: Document de l'Histoire Sociale des Mondes Me/diterrane/ens Me/die/vaux_, Collection de l'E/cole Franc,aise de Rome, 226 (Rome: E/cole Franc,aise de Rome, 1996).