ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2510 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2510 ************************************ 25 Apr 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Christian woman in 14th-15th century Sicily who had Arabic ancestors. Here is what we have found. In our past research on the name , , etc., we have found no evidence that it was used in our period, either by Christians or Muslims [1]. There is a modern Italian form , but again we have found no example of it before modern times [2]. We can't rule out the possibility that was used somewhere in the Muslim world, but we think it is unlikely that names of obvious Islamic origin would have been used by Christians in late medieval Sicily, hundreds of years after the Arab rulers were driven out. The examples we've seen of period Sicilian given names show no particular Arabic influence. We recommend you choose a different given name. If you like, we could suggest some names that we've found in medieval records from southern Sicily and southern Italy. We have not found any evidence that has ever been used as a personal name [4]. You told us that you believed it to be a Latin word meaning "fiery"; perhaps you were mis-recalling the word ? That is the feminine form of a Latin adjective that means "fiery, burning, glowing, ardent". Unfortunately, we also can't recommend that you include that word in your name. Latin was a common documentary language throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but it was not the language of common speech after the classical period. We see no way that a Latin word (other than one that was also an Italian word) would have been used as part of a person's name in your period, except in learned writing when the entire name could be translated into Latin. If you are interested, we may be able to find an Italian nickname that expresses the same idea. seems to be a good choice. It is a modern Sicilian surname, pronounced \shahr-REE-noh\, that derived from a Sicilian word "a rowdy or quarrelsome person". An early form of it appears in a Latin document in the name 1333. The root word itself ultimately derives from an Arabic word ; the Sicilian adaptation of that word was used as a surname around 1298, [3]. 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 Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Julie Stampnitzky, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Apr 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] See Academy of Saint Gabriel reports 961 and 1396 http://www.s-gabriel.org/961 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1396 [2] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei nomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992), s.n. Gelsomino. [3] Girolamo Caracausi, _Dizionario Onomastico della Sicilia_ (Palermo, 1994), s.nn. Sciarra, Sciarrino. The author notes that may also derive from a place name. There is a near Forza d'Agro and a place near Tarpani that appears as around 1439. [4] is vaguely similar to the Spanish masculine name , but we also haven't found that name in Sicily. Since it is a Spanish adaptation of a Basque name, it's particularly unlikely to show up in Italy.