ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 918 http://www.s-gabriel.org/918 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 21 Apr 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for documentation of as a Spanish name, or whether we could suggest a Spanish or Russian name which means "raven". Here is what we have found. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that it not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you. In most cultures within the scope of the Society, given names didn't have meanings. Nearly all names ultimately derived from normal words in some language, but it was very rare for people to continue to associate a given name with meaning of those ancient root words. Once these words came to be used as names, they were merely names and no longer had a deeper meaning. In modern English, we know that the word is related to the name , but in normal use, we don't expect the plant to have anything to do with a person who uses the name. If the connection is less obvious, the meaning is completely irrelevent. For example, derives from an Aramaic word that means "twin", but we hardly expect every Thomas today to be a twin. Similarly, while there are given names which derive from words that mean "raven" in one language or another, the connection was rarely recognized and almost never relevent. By contrast, names in many languages in our period included a "byname" as well as a given name. A byname is any extra word or phrase added to the given name to further identify an individual. In modern naming, we have fixed, inherited surnames; we call medieval surnames "bynames" to emphasize that they were usually neither fixed nor inherited. In much of our period, people used various kinds of descriptive bynames, usually using several different bynames in different circumstances. A man might be identified as his father's son one day, by his profession the next day, and by some physical characteristic a third day. When travelling abroad, he might be known by the town or region from which he came. Animal words were often used as bynames in many languages. In Spanish, there are some given names which ultimately derived from words meaning "raven" or "crow" in some language; there are also bynames which carried that meaning. Among given names, the best possibility the , which may derive from a Basque word for "crow". We find it recorded as 23 times between the 10th and early 13th century, as 14 times, and as 9 times. There are also occasional examples of (1081), (1076), (1072) [2, 3]. Among bynames, the best possibilities that we found are (1228), (1258), both from words meaning "raven" or "crow" [4]. The modern Spanish word for "raven" or "crow" is ; the Portuguese word is . To build a complete Spanish name, you need a given name and a byname. If you let us know what elements you've chosen, we can help you fill in the missing pieces. In Russian, there are two possibilities that might interest you. , pronounced \RAH-vin\, is recorded as a given name in Russia in 1235. It didn't mean "raven", of course; the root meaning was "even-handed". There is also a name derived from the Russian word "raven, crow". \VOH-rohn\ is found as a given name in 1398 and \VOH-rohn-ov\ and \voh-ROHN-itch\ are found as patronymics (bynames identifying someone's father) in 1573 and 1552 respectively. We also found examples of the diminutive forms (1460) and (1552), pronounced \voh-ROHN-yets\ and \voh-ROHN-ko\. \voh-ROHN-na\ is also recorded as a descriptive byname in the early 15th century [1]. If you want to use one of these names, then you'll want to choose a complete Russian name. You can find a great deal of information on how Russian names were constructed in period in reference [1], which is available on the web. 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, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Walraven van Nijmegen, Paul Wickenden of Thanet, Aleksandre de Acciptre, and Predslava Vydrina. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 14 April 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ [2] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957). [3] Michelena, Luis, _Apellidos Vascos_, 3rd ed. (San Sebastian: Editorial Txertoa, 1973). [4] Kremer, Dieter. 'Bemerkungen zu den mittelalterlichen hispanischen cognomina', in _Aufsa"tze zur Portugiesischen Kulturgeschichte_, vols. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17. Sonderdruck aus Portugiesische Forschungen der Go"rresgesellschaft. Herausgegeben von Hans Flasche (Mu"nster: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1970-1981/82). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -