ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2579
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2579
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04 Nov 2002
From: Marianne Perdomo Machin 


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You were interested in an authentic name appropriate for a woman 
living in France, between the years 1200 and 1550. You were interested 
in the first name <Nicole> and the byname <Bergere> or some other word 
meaning 'shepherdess'.


Your first choice for a given name, <Nicole>, is excellent. It's an 
appropriate name for a woman living in the northern two-thirds of 
France during the late Middle Ages. The diminutive <Colette> was also 
common in your period [1, 2].

<Bergere> or <bergiere>, meaning "shepherdess" [3], is also a good 
basis for a byname during that period. We found several examples of 
the masculine form used as a byname in your period [4]:

    Bergier                1448
    le Berger              1402
    le Bergier             13th c. to 1460
    le Berchier            1306
    Bergeron               1468

We also found the following bynames, with related meanings:

    Angnelier         "shepherd"           1311
    L'Angnelie\re     "shepherdess"        1311
    Houlette          "shepherd's crook"   1460-1

In modern French, a word like <bergie\re> has an accent mark, as we've 
shown with the slash here. That accent was not used in documents from 
your period, so we recommend you omit it.


Any of these bynames would be an excellent choice for your period: 
<Nicole la Bergere>, <Colette l'Angneliere>, etc.



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 Arval Benicoeur, Blaise de 
Cormeilles, Talan Gwynek, Iago ab Adam, Angharat verch Reynulf, 
Adelaide de Beaumont and Aryanhwy merch Catmael.

For the Academy,

   Leonor Martin
   4 Nov 2002

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References:

[1] Academy of Saint Gabriel report 2479 discusses the name <Nicole> 
and lists many dated examples we've found.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2479

[2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de 
personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, 
Musee de Picardie, 1967). pp. 22, 29.

[3] The French <berger>, meaning 'shepherd', dates back to the 12th 
century. Although our source only dates the masculine form, the 
feminine forms <bergere> and <bergiere> would have been standard in 
many parts of northern France.
Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et 
Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). s.v. <berger>.

[4] Morlet, Marie-Therese, op. cit. p.141