ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 906 http://www.s-gabriel.org/906 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 25 Apr 1998 Greetings, Here's the information we found on "Driggers," your last name. You said that is a modification of an original German name. We didn't find any names that could definitely have become , so we've had to theorize about its origin. The only medieval German name we found that's even close to is or (recorded in 1377), which means "someone who works with a press." (1) In modern German it usually refers to printers, but it could also refer to someone who runs a wine-press. However, we don't think that it's likely for to become . We did find a medieval Dutch word or , "to baste, stitch, tack, string (pearls), or lace." (2) A would be someone who does this, a lacemaker or beader, and it is possible that derived from this name. You also said that you wanted a first name that represented a warrior image. However, first names in most European languages (including German and Dutch) were generally not given based on their meaning. Although most names came from ordinary words, by the Middle Ages those meanings were no longer relevant to the names. The modern "name books" that include meanings for first names are the work of modern authors who reconstructed "meanings" that had, in many cases, been forgotten or ignored for thousands of years. Thus, we recommend that you pick a medieval German or Dutch first name that you like. We have a list of late-period German names on the Web at http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/germmasc/ The ten most common names on the list are * Johannes * Nikolaus * Erhart * Georg * Heinrich * Peter * Konrad * Jobst * Wolfgang * Lorenz We also have a list of Dutch names at http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/bruges/ The ten most common names on that list are * Jan * Pieter * Jacob * Cornelis * Willem * Joos * Adriaen * Gillis * Michiel * Clais You could use any of these names, or look at the Web pages for more ideas. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, and Arval Benicoeur contributed to this letter. In service, Alan Fairfax Academy of S. Gabriel (1) Schwarz, Ernst, Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus vorhussitischer Zeit (Koeln: Blehlau Verlag, 1957). (2) J. Verdam, _Middelnederlandsch Handwoordenboek_ (Leiden, Antwerpen: Martinus Nijhoff, 1911, repr. 1981)