ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2924 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2924 ************************************ 30 Oct 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a German man living in Bavaria between 1200 and 1600. Here is the information we have found. In our period, there wasn't a uniform German language, but rather a collection of dialects that varied from one region to the next. These dialects fall into two major groups: Low German in the north and High German in the south, including Bavaria and Austria. Because you are interested in a name for a Bavarian man, we have focused on High German names. Your given name is fine. Around 1200 there was a famous poet Wolfram von Eschenbach; we find his name recorded as in the first quarter of the 14th century [5]. In 1271 and 1285 we find the Latin form , and we find in 1332, in 1393, and in 1316 and 1322. We also found a man whose surname was in the second half of the 14th century, and another whose surname was in 1395; it is possible that these men's father's names were and , respectively. [1,2,4,6] , , , and are all Bavarian forms from the 12th C or earlier. [7] The name is most appropriate for the first half of your period; we did not find any clear evidence for the name after 1400. We were unable to find any place called in Bavaria, or in any part of Germany. While there are many small places that existed in your period that we do not have record of in modern times, we do not believe that could plausibly be one of them: Dragons do not seem to be associated with lakes in place names. The places that we have found with the element in them are , or , , , and . [3,8,9] The second parts of these place names, <-fels>, <-burg>, <-feld>, <-stedt>, and <-stein>, mean 'rocky crag', 'fortress, often on a height', 'field', 'town or place', and 'stone', respectively. Because we have not found the word for dragon compounded with words referring to bodies of water, we do not believe is a plausible place name. If any of the places that we've mentioned above interest you, please write us again and we can research spellings appropriate for your time period. Since you said you were more interested in the 'dragon' part of your byname, we thought you might be interested in bynames meaning 'dragon'. We found the following examples of bynames that mean 'dragon': 1357 in Frankfurt, 1356 and 1360 in Oberkirch in Baden, 1421 in Offenburg>, and 1360. We also found one man who was 'called Dragon Hand' in 1367 near Stuttgart. [1,3,9] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Aelfwynn Leoflaede dohtor, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 30 October 2004 -- References: [1] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry (German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357). s.nn. Draa(c)k, Wolfram [2] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [3] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). s.nn. Drachenfels, Drachenhand, Drack, Drackenstein, Wolfauer, Wolfinger, Wolfrath, Wolfsberg, Wolfurt(er) [4] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966). p. 42 [5] _Die Miniaturen der Manesseschen Liederhandschrift und andere Bildquellen_ (WWW: Tempora Nostra, no date). http://www.tempora-nostra.de/manesse/manesse_start.shtml [6] Schwarz, Ernst, _Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus vorhussitischer Zeit_ (Koeln: Boehlau Verlag, 1957). s.n. Wolfram [7] Mu"ller, Gunter, _Studien zu den Theriophoren Personennamen der Germanen_ (Ko"ln: Bo"hlau Verlag, 1970). pp. 7, 55 [8] Hucker, Bernd Ulrich, _Drakenburg - Weserburg und Stiftsflecken. Residenz der Grafen von Wo"lpe. Geschichte des Flecken Drakenburg_ vol. 2, ISBN 3-00-006602-0. [9] Schwarz, op. cit., s.nn. Drach, Drackenfeld