ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2351 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2351 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 21 Sep 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a Spanish woman born in Barcelona in 1492. Here is the information we have found. Unfortunately, we did not find any feminine form of used in Iberia before 1600. Though the masculine form is found as or in late 15th-century Castille [1], many feminine forms of names came into use long after the masculine names were used, and so we cannot recommend or any other feminine form. We did, however, find similar-sounding feminine names used in Barcelona in 1389 [2]: Alecsia Alichseno Alicsen Eligseno Elsicseno We believe these names would also be appropriate for your period. If you are interested in considering other alternative given names, we recommend the following articles: "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/ "16th-century Spanish Women's Names" http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/fnames.html "Nombres cordobeses del siglo XV" http://marianne.castillo.net/renac/nombres_cordob15.html The surname is a patronymic surname, one indicating who the bearer's father was. For example, a woman named whose father was named could have been known as . Though was never popular as a given name in the Iberian peninsula, it is found as early as the 900's. In the late 15th-century Castille, it is found as both and . [1] We did not find any evidence, however, that this surname was used in Barcelona. We have a single example of the surname ; this could or could not be related to . [2] We would like to note that Iberian women did not change their surnames upon marriage; a woman generally used the same byname for her entire life. For example, two people called and would more likely be brother and sister than husband and wife. In conclusion, a name such as would be appropriate for Barcelona in your period. In Castille, the surname would be a fine choice, as well as any of the given names from the articles linked above. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter were provided by Arval Benicoeur, Pedro de Alcazar, Maridonna Benvenuti, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, ~Argantgui filia Catmaili 21 Sept 01 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Juliana de Luna, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999-2000) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/ [2] Marsa/, Francisco, et al. _Onoma/stica Barcelonesa del Siglo XIV_ (Barcelona: University of Barcelona, 1977).