ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 884 http://www.s-gabriel.org/884 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 10 Apr 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of the name , which you want to use as a German name. Here is what we have found. The spelling is not possible in German. The letter was (and still is) used for the sound \f\, not the sound \v\ or \w\, so is not a reasonable spelling variation on the German . We found one period German version of the name, , recorded in 1421 [5]. The form was used in Danish. The name appears in Danish in various forms [2]: Edvart 1080 Edvvard 1076 Edwardus 12th century Eduard 1487 Eduerd 1487 The spelling may also have been used in Swedish, but only in the form of the name inherited from Old Norse, <@dhvard>. (@ is the Swedish slashed O.) The spelling apparently did not appear in Swedish until the name was re-imported in the 17th century [3, 4]. We didn't find a Danish surname similar to that you could combine with the name . If you are interested in adopting a Danish persona, we'll be happy to look further. You may be interested to know that while the modern German word means "vulture", not "buzzard", the Middle High German root was used to mean "large bird of prey" [1]. This is the same root as the first element of the English . This word was used as a descriptive byname in period, but not in the form . The name did exist, but it had a different meaning: "one who lives in a (district)". For names meaning "vulture", we recommend , , , or [1]. 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, Lindorm Eriksson, and Teceangl Bach. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). [2] Knudsen Gunnar, Marius Kristiansen, & Rikard Hornby, _Danmarks Gamle Personnavne_, Vol. I: Fornavne (Copenhagen: 1936-48). [3] _Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn_, Vol. 1 (Uppsala: 1967-). [4] Malmsten, A, _Svenska namnboken_ (Stockholm: Bokforlaget Rabeen Prisma, 1996). [5] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990), s.n. Edart. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Annotation by Aryanhwy, 25 July 2008: Added header name for [5].