ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1654 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1654 ************************************ 2 Aug 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel. You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Frenchman living between 1300 and 1600. Here's what we found. We found the spelling in the 16th century in Normandy and in Bruges [1, 2]. It was carried to England by the Normans, where it is recorded in the 12th or early 13th century [9]. This evidence suggests that was used at least in some parts of France throughout your period, but it isn't conclusive. , in various forms, was popular throughout your period. We found these forms [1,2,3]: 1292 1292 16th century 1400-1600 We found no period example of , nor did we find a period French place called . The author of _Les Liasons Dangereuses_, , was born in 1741, too late to be useful evidence of period usage [10]. You said that you found in 1607. If you can send us the details of that example, we will be happy to evaluate it for you. If there was a place called in 1607, then would certainly be correct. However, without seeing evidence of that place name, we cannot recommend using it. The word "an enclosed field or house" is masculine, so that the normal usage in a name would be "from the enclosed field". In that form, the surname was common in our period; for example, in Picardy, 1448 [5, 6, 7]. You could also consider , which we found as a surname in (French-speaking) England in 1214 [4]. In our period, this sort of name was written as separate words: and rather than and . We also found a place recorded in 1504 [8]. A person from that town could have been called . We advise against using a second given name. Double given names or middle names were rare in most of France in most of your period. Unless you are trying to re-create a time and place where you know double given names were used, we recommend using only a single name, which was the normal style throughout our period. Either or would be a fine names for any time in your period. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or you have any other questions. We were assisted in writing this letter by Blaise de Cormeilles, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borj, and Juliana de Luna. In Service, Margaret Makafee & Arval Benicoeur 2 Aug 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html [2] Luana de Grood, "Flemish Given Names from Bruges, 1400-1600", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/ [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] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). [5] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Duclos. [6] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997), s.n. Duclos. [7] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [8] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963). [9] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.). http://members.xoom.com/nicolaa/names.html [10] "Laclos, Pierre Choderlos de" Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=47845&sctn=1 [Accessed 26 July 1999].