ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1126 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1126 ************************************ 3 Aug 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about , which you want to use as a French feminine name sometime after the late 13th century. Here is what we have found. , a diminutive of , was used as a masculine name in our period; the earliest clear evidence we find that it was used as a feminine name is in the 20th century. Several feminine forms are recorded between the 10th and early 12th centuries [2]: Gotselena 979 Goslena 1030 Goscelina 1070 Gouselina 1085 Joscelina 1102 We couldn't find a later example of , but we think that in a slightly different form it could have been used as late as the 15th century. The masculine , and were all used in late 13th century Paris. is recorded in 14th and 15th century Picardy, along with the masculine diminutive forms and and the feminine . In both these times & places, feminine forms of other names are formed with the suffix <-eline>: , , [3, 4]. We therefore believe that is a reasonable name for northern or northwestern France in the 13th to 15th centuries, and of course any of the spellings in the list above is perfect for the earlier period. The name was pronounced \JOH-sell-EEN\ up to the 12th or 13th century, with a \J\ as in , and \ZHOH-sell-EEN\ in later centuries, with \ZH\ being the sound of the in [7]. The modern English pronunciation \JOSS-a-linn\ is not appropriate to your period. The name is not correct. "heart" is a masculine noun, so "of the heart" is . We cannot find examples of this phrase used as a name. It is not related to ; that name derives from medieval French or "from the manor", used as a simple description of where someone lived [5]. If you want to use a form of , we recommend , which we found as a 15th century spelling [4]. We did find some modern French surnames derived from the word Old French . or are modern surnames derived from nicknames for a courageous man. The child of a man nicknamed could have been called , and by analogy, one might suppose that the daughter of could have been called . is another modern surname, also originally used to indicate courage [6]. It also might have meant "good hearted". We find this name recorded in England as 1229, 1257, 1298, in 1264, and in 1327 [8, 9]. These are English examples, but they suggest that the original French or was also in use. In summary, while the name you wrote about is not quite right for your period, some very similar names are quite appropriate. We recommend that you consider , , or . 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, Tangywstyl vz. Morgant Glasvryn, and Walraven van Nijmege. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 3 Aug 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_ (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972), v.I, p.106. [3] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [4] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [5] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). [6] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997). [7] Einhorn, E., _Old French: A Concise Handbook_ (London & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974). [8] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Bunker. [9] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK Gleerup, date unknown). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -