ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2249 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2249 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 26 Mar 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if , meaning "Alaric from the house on the brook," would be an appropriate name for a man from northern Germany born in 1473. Here is the information we have found. is a modern English form of , the name of a Visigothic king who sacked Rome in 410 AD. [1] As far as we can tell, the name fell out of use far before your period, and did not come into use in Germany until a fairly late date. The earliest we find the name in Germany is the 19th century. [2] We can suggest a similar German name that was in use in your period, though. The element found in the beginning of many German names was originally spelled . At a fairly early date we find the Germanic-rooted name used in France, spelled as 747, 856, 861, 916, 997-1031, and 911, 980-1032. [3] This same name is spelled in Germany as in 1301 and in 1371. [4] We are not sure what form the name would have taken in the 15th century, but it seems likely that the spelling continued in use. The Low German dialects spoken in the north of Germany were quite different from the High German dialects spoken in the south. The sound spelled in the High German of that period corresponds to the Low German sound spelled or sometimes . Based on this, or would be the most likely spelling of the name for your region, though we have not found any explicit evidence that this name was used in northern Germany. In 1386 we find the surname meaning "of Brockhausen." [4] By the 15th century, a surname like this one would have been understood to refer to a named place, not as a generic description. That is to say, would have meant "Alrik from Brochhusen", not "Alrik from the house on the brook." Also, by your period, many surnames were becoming inherited; could simply have meant that Alrik's father also had the surname . Locative bynames (nicknames identifying where the bearer was from) in German were formed mainly in three ways: the name of the town without modification, ; a phrase with , ; and the adjective form of the place name, . By your period, throughout the German-speaking world, bynames with (or , the Low German form of that word) had dropped out of use in most classes and remained common only among the nobility [*]. As the examples above suggest, the most common form in northern Germany was the place name on its own. We therefore recommend as the form most typical of the time and place you want to re-create. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Hartmann Rogge. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 26Mar01 -- References & Notes: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Alaric. [2] Seibicke, Wilfried, _Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch_ (de Gruyter, series, various dates). s.n. Alarich [3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). I:17b-18a [4] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960). s.nn. Adelr(e)ich, Alrich, Brockhaus, Bruchhauser [*] We discuss the use of in more detail in Academy of Saint Gabriel report 2041, http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/showfinal.cgi?2041.