ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 925 http://www.s-gabriel.org/925 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: "S Friedemann" 14 May 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked if there was evidence of people using bynames connected to great events in their lives. There is such evidence, and here are some examples that we have found: German: * Otto IV, Margrave of Brandenburg, was wounded by an arrow in 1280 and was afterward called "with the arrow." [1] * Hainrich genannt Naherfrorn, 1317, was called "nearly frozen"; other explanations of his byname are possible, but it seems almost beyond doubt that at some point in his life this Hainrich almost froze to death. [1] Middle English: * John Latethewaterga, 1242, whose byname means "let the water go"; we can only speculate on what this means, but this sounds like a reference to a specific incident. [4] * Godlef crepunder hwitel lived around 1100. His byname means "creep under blanket." [2] * Mucheman Wetebede, in 1235 [3], whose name means "wet bed." * Agnes Brekewall, 1332; the byname means "break wall." [5] Old French: * Warin Mangeharneis, 1228; his name meant "eat armor." [3] We found a few examples more specific to England and France, and to pilgrimages to Rome, that are probably more in line with what you were looking for. , 1189-98, 1185, 1200, 1221, 1243, 1251, were all used by people who had made a pilgrimage to Rome or Palestine. [4] There is also an example of , who is recorded simply as in 1273; it appears that in his case the nickname actually replaced his baptismal name. Another way that people commemorated a pilgrimage was to use a byname based on the place visited. 1296 and 1274 were both pilgrims to Rome [4]. Based on the previous example, we can justify the byname for a person returned from pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Several bynames based on the word are recorded in our sources: 1296, 1296, (holy ghost) 1354, 1212, and 1327. Although none of these refer to a place, the term was in use as early as 1297 [6], and we think that it could very reasonably have been used as a personal nickname. seems a fine 13th century English name. You also wondered about the names that we quoted, and , and asked if these people did not use "son of" in their name. That is correct; the use of <-son> did not come until much later than this. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Aelfwyn aet Gyrwum, Arval Benicoeur, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin 14May98 --------------------------------------------------------- References: [1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). [2] Cecily Clark, _Words, Names and History: Selected Papers_, ed. Peter Jackson (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1995). [3] P.H. Reaney, _The Origin of English Surnames_ (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980). [4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). [5] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK Gleerup, date unknown). [6] _The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971)