ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2738 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2738 ************************************ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTE: This report was originally sent as a direct reply, and therefore is not as reliable as regular Academy reports. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! Yuo asked our help creating an authentic 14th-16th century Welsh name meaning "Tristan son of Rydderch". We have previously researched all the elements of your name. Unfortunately, is not a Welsh name. It is French, an literary adaptation of a very early medieval name used in a language called Brythonic. In a previous report that discussed and the standard English form of the name, , we wrote: The ultimate source of these names is not entirely clear; our sources believe that it is a Brythonic Celtic name [1, 2, 4]. The derivation is obscured by the transmission of the name through Old French, where it was confused with the word "sad" [5]. There is evidence of and in early Cornish and Scottish Gaelic inscriptions, but we find nothing later than the 7th or 8th century and nothing in Irish [1, 6]. You can read the full report and see the references at http://www.s-gabriel.org/788. There is more discussion of and its form in various langauges in several other reports: English: http://www.s-gabriel.org/1568 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2082 French: http://www.s-gabriel.org/1450 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1552 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2253 Italian: http://www.s-gabriel.org/1898 We have found no evidence that the name was used in Welsh. However, by the 16th century, many English names were adopted by the Welsh; so it is not impossible that could have been used by a Welshman late in our period. The rest of your name, "son of Rydderch", is fine: This name appears in the article A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts), on the web at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh16.html. The construction of patronymics is discussed there, as well. If we assume that the English was available in late-period Wales, then would be a fine choice. , using the French form of the name, is less likely, since we do not have evidence that the spelling was used in English before 1600. [Note: There is an instance of in a collection of very early Welsh genealogies that were compiled late in our period, published as Bartrum, P.C., _Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1966). This Tristan is said to have lived approximately 430. This citation isn't helpful. First, a name used in the 5th century tells us nothing about what names were used a thousand years later (or even several centuries later). Second, the language used in the 5th century was very different from that used in the Middle Ages and Renaissance -- more different than French is from classical Latin. Third, these early genealogies are extremely unreliable, containing at least as much legend as fact. We mention this example only because it came up recently in College of Arms discussion, and we don't want you to be misled by it.] Arval for the Academy 20 Sep 2002