ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2660 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2660 ************************************ 6 May 2003 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is an appropriate name for a mid-15th century woman from the region of Naples. You also asked if we have any information on medieval Slovenian names. Here is what we have found. Before we start, we'd like to apologize for the time it has taken to finish this report. We have not found an example of before modern times [1]. However, several variants existed in Italy from as early as the 11th century: [2, 3, 4, 5] Alegranzia, 11th c. Como Allegrancia, 12th - 13th c. Salerno, Piedmont, and Tuscany Allegranza, 12th - 13th c. Salerno, Piedmont, Tuscany; 1427 Florence Alegratiam (Latin grammatical form of ) 1341 Venetian Crete [7] Alegreza, 14th c. Venice Allegrezza, 1550s Rome [6] Allegriza, 1560s Palermo [8] As you see, these examples are scattered across Italy. We must consider that fact, because there was no single Italian language in our period, but rather a very diverse set of dialects. A name used in one part of Italy is not necessarily appropriate for another part. We therefore recommend that you choose a name recorded as close as possible to the region you want to re-create. That criterion suggests from Palermo and from Salerno, near Naples, as the best choices. We have one instance of as a masculine name, even though it has the grammatical form of a feminine name [5], so that might not be the best choice. The name from Rome is also a reasonably good fit for you. Our examples of are Jewish women; but we have observed that Jewish and Christian women often used similar names. Given this evidence, we think it is possible that was used in your period, but since we have found no pre-modern example, we recommend or as better choices for southern Italy in your period. The name was recorded in Sicily in 1312 [9], in 15th century Florence [10]. It is reasonable to believe that some form of the name was used in 15th century Naples; might be the better choice. We have also found and in 16th century Palermo; these may be forms of the same name [8]. Compound given names (double given names, middle names) were common in some parts of Italy in your period and later. However, the most common pattern was for one of the names to be a saint's name, usually the second [8, 11]. does not fit that pattern. We do not have enough data from your culture to say for certain whether it is a plausible combination, though. Either name used on its own is a fine choice. The modern Italian surname probably derives from several sources. The most common was probably an Italian word that meant "Swabian". That byname appears in Latin records from southern Italy in the name 1248; and became common in much of Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries [12, 13]. Early in your period, it might still have been used literally; but by 1400 it was probably most often an inherited family name. The spelling is probably appropriate for your period. The locative surname is certainly a fine choice [14]. In the southern dialect, the form might have been more typical [8, 15]. By your period, when inherited family names were common, a literal locative might not have been considered to be truly part of a person's name, but rather an extra description just as we might say "Peter Duncan, from Houston". Thus, we think it is more likely a written form than one that would have been used in speech. In summary, is one way that a woman from Naples might have been identified in writing. Using just one of the given names might make the name more typical of your culture. We have a substantial amount of name data from 14th-16th century Slovenia [16]. We haven't converted it to a form that we can provide for browsing; but we may be able to answer a specific question. 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 Walraven van Nijmegen, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Joshua haLevi, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Julie Stampnitzky, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, Galiana de Baiona and Arval Benicoeur 6 May 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges, _A Dictionary of First Names_ (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1990), s.n. Allegra. [2] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei nomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992), s.n. Allegro. [3] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/catasto [4] Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/venice14/ [5] Juliana de Luna, "Masculine Names from Thirteenth Century Pisa" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/pisa/ [6] Kenneth Stow, ed., Jews in Rome: The Roman Jew (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 1997), vol. 2. We found 6 instances of as a Jewish woman's name. [7] McKee, Sally, _Wills from Late Medieval Venetian Crete 1312-1420_, 3 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998, ISBN 0884022455), vol.1, p.405. [8] Lyneya Fairbowe, unpublished research based on a baptismal register from Palermo 1561-3 that is available from the research library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Her data shows many examples of double and triple given names. [9] Girolamo Caracausi, _Dizionario Onomastico della Sicilia_ (Palermo, 1994), s.n. Ginevra. [10] Rhian Lyth, "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/rhian/italian.html. [11] James S. Grubb, _Provincial Families of the Renaissance: Private and Public Life in the Veneto_ (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), pp.42-7. [12] Caracausi s.n. Soave. [13] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei cognomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978), s.n. Soave. [14] "Mercator's 1554 map facsimile of Italia" (Walking Tree Press, 1998). The name appears on the map. [15] Caracausi s.n. Di Napoli. [16] Pavel Blaznik, _Historic^na topografija slovenske S^tajerske in jugoslovanskega dela Koros^ke do leta 1500_, two volumes. This book, in Slovenian, is a historical dictionary of place names; but it contains many personal names to illustrate historical spellings of place names. Many are in German or Latin.