ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 882 http://www.s-gabriel.org/882 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 9 Apr 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of as a late-16th century Dutch name. Here is what we have found. Before I start, I would like to convey the Academy's compliments on your research and thanks for providing it to us. We believe that your name is almost perfect for your period. We do have some suggested improvements. Since you found an example of an adult using the name in 1623, it is almost certain that the name was used before 1600. We recommend that if you submit your name for registration, you include a copy of that reference. However, we have found independent justification for the name. Diminutive forms of are recorded in Dutch from the 13th century, when we find [1]. We also find as a diminutive of and as a diminutive of (via ) [2]. Taken together, these examples make a solid case for as a diminutive of . Switching from to is routine in period Dutch. Your pronunciation of the name, \mar-EYE-kuh\ is quite close. The middle syllable isn't quite the English \EYE\. It is the diphthong formed by the vowel in followed immediately by the one in , halfway between and the vowel sound in . The surname probably meant "from the mound". A is a small, artificial hill or heap. In modern Dutch, the word means "refuse heap" [5]. The word was also spelled , , and [3], and we found an examples of the surname written as [4]. We think that your spelling is not likely, since there is an unrelated word with which it could have been confused. is a contraction of "Reyer's son". Since it is clearly masculine, it would not be an appropriate part of your name. The equivalent feminine form could have been or or the Latin form or [2, 7]. For your information, the name has two possible sources. There is a German surname , a variant of "heron" (probably first used as a nickname for a man with long legs). The Dutch equivalent is , which could have produced the byname by a similar process. There is also a Continental Germanic given name which could have developed into something like [8]. Putting it all together, we think it would be appropriate for you to call yourself or . We think that these names would have been understood to mean "Marijke, daughter of Reyer van den Belte". You could also construct your name with the locative before the patronymic, , which we believe would mean "Marijke van den Belte, Reyer's daughter". By way of comparison, we found the following names recorded in 1376 [2], which illustrate the variety of name constructions that were used: Eefsa filia Theoderici der Kijnder Elisabeth Waltheri Lijske Aechten dochter de Ghestel Aelbertus filius Aelberti de Keere Arnt van Ghent Heymanssoen Arnoldus de Wijc filius Baldewini Kuyst Elizabeth uxor Reyner van den Hove The town of Heerde did exist in period. A map drawn before 1617 shows a sizable town, in Gelderland as you believed [6]. For general information on your time period, we can recommend _The Dutch Republic : It's Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806_ by Jonathan Israel (Clarendon Press, 1995, ISBN 0198730721). It is a good source of history and cultural information. Best of all, it's in print. Amazon.com has it for $45.00. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Debrabandere. _Kortrijkse Naamkunde 1200-1300, met een kumulatief familienamenregister_ (Anthrophonymica XXII, Leuven, 1980). [2] Van der Velden, G. M., _Het Oudste Cijnregister van de Abdij van Berne uit 1376_ ('s-Hertogenbosch: 1982). [3] Huizinga, A., _Encyclopedie van Namen_, (Amsteram: A.J.G. Strengholt, 1955). [4] Verdam, J., _Middelnederlandsch Handwoordenboek_ (Leiden, Antwerpen: Martinus Nijhoff, repr. 1981). [5] Lemmen, Loren, _Names from the Netherlands_ (USA: 1986). [6] Blaeu, Johannes, _Blaeu's "The Grand Atlas" of the 17th-Century World_ (Rizzoli International Publications, partial reprint 1991). [7] Van Heule, Christiaen, _De Nederduytsche Spraec-konst ofte Tael-beschrijvinghe_ (Leyden: Jacob Koels Boec-verkoper, 1633). [8] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357).