ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2079 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2079 ************************************ 16 Jun 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Spanish man in our period. Here is what we have found. With minor corrections, each of the elements of your name is appropriate in the 16th century, but the overall construction is unlikely. We'll discuss the individual elements and then the form of the name as a whole. The name came into use in the Iberian peninsula in the 16th century; we have found examples recorded in the middle of that century [1]. or was originally a locative byname (a surname identifying the place where someone lived). "Saint James" was an important saint venerated throughout Spain; the center of his cult was the famous pilgrimage site located in northwestern Spain. We have found some examples of used as a given name in the 1500s, including 1541 and 1543 [3, 4]. is a modern Spanish surname, derived from a word meaning "crow" [5]. We haven't found evidence that it existed in period, but it is not unlikely, especially late in period. In other forms, it was used much earlier: 1179, 1243 [6]. is the French spelling of this placename; the Spanish form is . With all four elements, you've chosen a very complex name. In general, period names were much simpler than modern ones. In particular, the use of middle names (or second given names) didn't arise on the Iberian peninsula until very late in our period and even then they were rare. Compound surnames like were also rare until the end of our period. The combination of these two rare practices was even more rare, but not unknown: Names of this complexity were used among the Spanish nobility in the last couple centuries of our period. For example, a 15th century baron was identified as , which has the same form as your name [3]. However, we must stress that this is one example out of hundreds: It was very unusual in its time. So while your name is not impossible in Spain in the last half of the 16th century, it would have been a very unusual name even then. Some more likely combinations are , , or . We 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, Blaise de Cormeilles, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 16 Jun 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Juliana de Luna, "Portuguese Names from the 16th Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/juliana/portugal16/ [2] Kremer, Dieter. 'Bemerkungen zu den mittelalterlichen hispanischen cognomina', part 2, in _Aufsa"tze zur Portugiesischen Kulturgeschichte_, vol.11. Sonderdruck aus Portugiesische Forschungen der Go"rresgesellschaft. Herausgegeben von Hans Flasche (Mu"nster: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1970-1981/82). [3] de Atienza, Julio, _Nobilario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Agular SA de Ediciones, 1954). Santiago de Acebes (1543), s.n Acebes, p. 59; Santiago de Aguirre s.n. Aguirre p. 78; Luis Juan Mill/an de Arago/n, first Baron of Adzaneta, p. 788. [4] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Men's Names_ (WWW: self-published, 1998). http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/mnames.html [5] de Atienza, op. cit., s.n. Cuervo. [6] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), p.274.