ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2479 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2479 ************************************ 25 Mar 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether and where the names and were used before 1600, particularly in northwestern Europe. Here is what we have found. is originally a French name; it appears in 11th and 12th century literature as [14]. It was very likely popularized in the 13th century by the romance "Aucassin et Nicolete" [15, 16]. In a variety of forms, it was used throughout northern France from the 12th century onward [4]. The forms ending <-a> or <-aa> are probably Latinized; the underlying French name probably ended <-e>. , for example, proably represents the French name [18]. Nicolle, Nicole Lorraine 13th C [10] Nicholaia Picardy 1225 [10] Nicholaa Normandy 1287 [10] Nicola Champagne late 12th-13th C [10] Nichole, Nicole Paris 1292 [2] Nicole Paris 1313 [10] Nicol, Nicolin, Nicolete French literature 13th-14th century [15] Nicole Paris 1421, 1438 [17] Nicola Picardy 15th century [9] Nicole Normandy 16th century [1] Colate, Collate Lorraine 13th C [10] Coleite, Colete, Colleite Paris 1292 [2] Colete Paris 1313 [10] Cola Picardy 14th C [9] Colaye, Colette Picardy 14th-15th C [9] We found far less evidence of the name in southern France, where the language in our period was Occitan. We found one instance of , probably from Languedoc in 1125 [11], but nothing else. In England, feminine forms of were used from the 12th century onward. Examples include [3, 6, 7]: Nicholaa 13th century Nicolaa 13th Nichola 13th, 14th, 16th Nicola 13th-14th All these forms are Latinized; the vernacular form of the name was probably . The English also used a variety of diminutive forms [6, 7]: Colina 13th century Collette 14th Coleta 14th, 16th Collet 15th Nicholina 16th and are also Latinized; dropping the final <-a> will leave a plausible English form. is correct as it stands. The use of the name does not appear to have spread to other cultures of the British Isles: We have no period evidence of the name in Welsh or Gaelic. We found no evidence of the name in Dutch, but that may reflect our limited data. In Florence in 1427, the name was recorded as , but the diminutive form was much more common [8]. We have relatively little data from period Italy, so we can't say whether this data is typical. It appears that no feminine form of was used in Denmark or Norway in your period [12, 13]. We also found no evidence of it in period Germany [19]. 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, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Julie Stampnitzky, Avraham haRofeh, Pedro de Alcazar, Adelaide de Beaumont, For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Mar 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html], accessed 24 June 2000. [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) [URL:http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html], accessed 24 June 2000. [3] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/talan/reaney/], accessed 24 June 2000. [4] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Nicolas. [5] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, unpublished research based on documents at the website Chronique de France: Publication electronique de textes originaux. http://www.lodace.com/histoire/objet/cf1796.htm [6] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.; WWW: privately published, 1997). http://members.tripod.com/nicolaa5/articles/names.html [7] Talan Gwynek, unpublished research. [8] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto [9] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [10] Jacobsson, Harry, _E/tudes d'Anthroponymie Lorraine les Bans de Tre/fonds de Metz (1267-1298)_ (Go:teborg: Gumperts Fo:rlag, 1955), pp.208-9. [11] 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), II:83a. [12] Knudsen Gunnar, Marius Kristiansen, & Rikard Hornby, _Danmarks Gamle Personnavne_, Vol. I: Fornavne (Copenhagen: 1936-48). [13] Kruken, Kristoffer, ed. _Norsk personnamnleksikon_, 2nd ed. (Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1995). [14] Langlois, Ernest, _Table des Noms Propres de toute nature compris dan les Chansons de Geste_ (New York: Burt Franklin, 1971 [1904]), s.n. Nicoleite. [15] Flutre, Louis-Fernand, _Table des noms propres avec toutes leurs variantes, figurant dans les romans du Moyen Age e/crits en franc,ais ou en provenc,al et actuellement publie/s ou analyse/s_ (Poitiers: Centre d'e/tudes supe/rieures de civilisation me/die/vale, 1962). [16] Henry Adams, _Mont-Saint-Michel & Chartres_ (London: Constable, 1950), pp.229-240. In excerpts from the Old French version of 'Aucassin et Nicolete', the name appears as . [17] Jean Favier, Les Contributable parisiens a la fin de la guerre de Cent Ans, les role d'impot de 1421, 1423, et 1438 (Geneve, Paris, Droz: 1970). [18] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Nicholas. [19] Drosdowski, Guenther, _Duden Lexikon der Vornamen_, 2nd ed. (Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 1974), s.nn. Nicole, Nicoletta, Nicolette.