ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1204 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1204 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "Lisa Mohr" 14 Oct 1998 Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel, You asked for assistance in documenting the name as a French name appropriate for the period 1050-1600. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. we try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the Colelge of Arms, but that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you. We cannot recommend as a likely period French name. Compounds like and are common in modern French, but they were unusual in period, appearing no earlier than the 14th century and probably not becoming common until after our period. We have never seen the particular compound in period. The two parts of the name were used from the Middle Ages onward. was spelled until the 14th century or so, and was never common and may not have been used as a given name after the 13th century [1,2,3]. A compound given name is most plausible if you choose a 16th century persona. While we cannot rule out as a possibility at that point, we recommend against it unless you can find a period example. The French is used in names before a place name: means "from Chartres." When it precedes a word that starts with a vowel or sometimes an unvoiced , the contracts to , e.g. . The contraction never occurs before a consonant, so is not correct. The word has the same meaning in Latin, but it doesn't contract. is not a French name; it is Dutch (Flemish) place name meaning "blue field" . We did not find an actual place with this name [4]. There was considerable overlap between French- and Dutch-speakers in the area of modern Belgium, so it is perfectly possible for a man with a French name to live in a place with a Dutch name; but his name would not have been written in a mixture of the two languages. If his name were written in French, the French name of the place would have been used. For example, there is a medieval city in Belgium which is called in French, in Dutch. A man named who lived in that city could have been called or , but not . the language of the given name has to match the language of the place name. We don't know how might have been rendered in French. It could simply have been translated to but we don't think that's likely: We haven't found an example of used this way in French place names. It could also have been transliterated into French spelling conventions, but we can't guess how it would have been spelled. You may be interested in a similar-sounding French place name. We found a couple: , not far from Marseille, near Nimes and Montpellier [5]. Putting it all together, we can recommend as a southern French name. We hope this letter has been of help to you, and that you will not hesitate to write us if you have questions or desire further assistance. Research for this letter was contributed by Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, Elisabeth de Rossignol ----------------------- References: [1] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). [2] 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) . [3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [4] We did find mention of a place-name in Bavaria and Austria, found in the byname of , in Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). Also, a Dutch family named or played an important role in colonial Bergen County, New Jersey (Josh Mittleman, personal communication.) [5] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, Arval, 5 Sept 05: was mis-spelled.