ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2949 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2949 ************************************ 15 Nov 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if either or is an appropriate name for an English woman between 1100 and 1600, and if is an appropriate byname throughout this period. You also asked if we could suggest arms using sable and ermine, with mostly straight lines. Here is the information we have found. Forms of and were used throughout the period that you are interested in. We will discuss forms of first, and then forms of . first appeared in England in the 12th century, and by the 13th and 14th centuries it was one of the most common feminine names in England. [1] Early records of the name use the Latin spelling , which we find from 1199 on. [1,2] The English-language spellings tended to not have the final syllable. English spellings that we found over the course of your period include: [1,2,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15] Isabele 1196 Isabel 1141-49, c.1160, 1268, 1276, 1296, 14th C, 1304, 1327, 1332, 1354, 1379, 1385, 1440, 1473, 1485, 16th C, 1535, 1542 Ysabelle 1253 Isabel(l) 1273, 1284 Ysabell 1279 Isabell 1318, 1327, 1332, 1381, 1523, 16th C, 1592, 1599 Isabelle 1327, 1473 Issabell 1450, 1535 Ezabell 1471 Issabel 15th & 16th C Esabel 15th & 16th C Izabell 16th C Izabbell 16th C Yzabell 16th C Isbell 1538 Isobel 1548 Esabell 1555 Isibille 1556 Isbel 1575/6 Eshabelle 1578 Issobell 1579 Isable 1582, 1590 In this list, the parentheses indicate that the name was sometimes found with the parenthetical letters and sometimes without. As you can see, some form of is appropriate for any part of your period. Spellings using appear around the 13th century. We also found a number of diminutives and pet forms of . [8] also appeared in England at a fairly early date; it was introduced after the Norman conquest. [1] The Latinized form appears in records from 1170, 1199, 1219, 1254, 1275, 1288- 89, 1316, 1327, 1332, and 1379, and the Latinized form we find in 1275 and 1379. [2] As with , these Latinized forms were primarily used in written contexts or contexts where Latin was spoken, and the English-language forms tended to drop the terminal <-a> or <-ia>. English-language spellings that we found include: [2,5,7,10,11,12,13,14,17,18,19] Sybil 1201, 1238, 1332, 1460, late 16th C Sibyl 1238 Sibely 1273 Sibil 1275, 1332, 1590, late 16th C Sibeli 1279 Sibli 1279 Sibyll 1279, 1548 Sibel 1296 Sybyly 15th C Sibell 1434, 16th C, 1566 Sybbly 1440 Sybyle 1440, 1450 Sybill 1455, 1496, 1549 Syblie 16th C Sybell 16th C, 1533, 1544, 1569 Sible 16th C, 1579 Sybylle 1539/40 Sybyll 1540/1, 1572, 1573 Sibill 1544/5, 1551, 1575, late 16th C Sibille 1544, 1544, 1551, 1555, 1557, 1561, 1563, 1570, 1570 Sybbyll 1548 Sybbill 1558/9 Sibull 1561 Sybbel 1561 Sybbyl 1561 Sybyl 1561 Sibbil 1567/8 Sibbill 1568 Sybble 1574, 1585, 1589 Sibble 1575 Syble 1592, 1594 This name, in some spelling or another, is a fine choice for your entire period. We also found diminutives and pet forms of . [16] We discussed the place name in our previous report to you: Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2909 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2909 We cannot add much to what we said here, because we do not have any good sources for the spellings of place names in later-period England. We do, however, have examples of surnames that were originally derived from the place name . These include 1379, 1408-9, 1585, and 1619. [3,20] We can recommend a number of possibilities for your arms: Per fess ermine and sable Per fess indented ermine and sable Sable, a fess dancetty ermine Ermine, a fess dancetty sable Sable, a chief ermine Ermine, a chief sable The first two designs are appropriate only for the 14th century and on; the division 'per fess' was a later development. So far as we can tell, all of these are registerable with the SCA College of Arms. 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 Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Iago ab Adam, Gunnvor silfraharr, Ursula Georges, Mor inghean Chathail, and Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 15 November 2004 -- References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.nn. Isabel, Sibyl [2] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel,1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ [3] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). s.n. Whitby [4] Karen Larsdatter, "Feminine Given Names Found in the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland" (WWW: SCA.org, no date) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/Rutland/index.htm [5] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "An Index to the 1332 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Lincolnshire, England" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 2000). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/LincLSR/ [6] Friedemann, Sara L. "14th Century Worcestershire Names" (WWW: Self-published, 2002) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/worc14.html [7] Julian Goodwyn, "English Names from pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/brasses/ [8] These are all from source [2]. Belet 1188 Bibel 1189-99 Bibele 1200 Bibby 1240 Biby 1240 Belot 1279 Ybot 1286 Ybelote 1296 Libbe 1298 Libet 1319 Ibbe 1324 Ibbot 1379 Ibot(a) 1379 Ebbot 1379 Hibbot 1379 Ibbet 1579 [9] Karen Larsdaater, "An Index to the 1523 Subsidy Roll for York and Ainsty, England" (WWW: SCA.org, no date) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/york16/ [10] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Given Names in Chesham, 1538-1600/1" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/chesham/ [11] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "16th Century Gloucestershire Names" (WWW: privately published, 1999-2001). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/late16.htm [12] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Name Distribution in King's Stanley Marriages: 1573-1600" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/kingsstanley/ [13] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "16th Century Names from Ormskirk Parish Registers" (WWW: privately published, 2001-2). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/ormskirk.htm [14] Friedemann, Sara L. "Names found in Maisemore, Glouchestershire Registers 1538-1600" (WWW: Self-published, 2000) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/maisemore.html [15] Friedemann, Sara L. "Names found in Frocester, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1559-1600" (WWW: Self-published, 2000) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/frocester.html [16] These are all from [2]. Sibba c.1095 Sibbe Sibbe 1306, 1440 Sybby c.1515 [17] Uckelman, Sara L. "Feminine names from Devon, 1238" (WWW: Self- published, 2004) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/devonfem1238.html [18] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/ [19] Talan Gwynek, "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/eng16/ [20] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Whitby