ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2764 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2764 ************************************ 24 Jan 2004 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether any form of is appropriate for an Anglo-Norman woman in the mid-12th century. Here is what we have found. ultimately derives from Latin . Quite early, the ceased to be pronounced, and in 9th century Latin records from northern France we already find spellings like and , though the more traditional is found well past that date [1]. However, as we will see shortly, the remained in common use in England. The shift from to in the first syllable is not well understood and it occured at different times in different places. Indeed, in some places spellings appear as late as the 15th century [2]. However, spellings are found as early as the 12th century in some places, particularly in southern France [3, 4]. In English records, though, we find only spellings in your period and beyond, e.g c.1120, 1189-1220, 1379 (a woman) [4, 6]. The <-et> or <-ete> diminutive was in use in 12th century England. Examples include [5]: 1188, a diminutive of either or 1166, 1175, from , a feminine of We believe this evidence establishes a good case for a hypothetical name or as a plausible 12th century Anglo-Norman name, which would have been written in Latin as . This name would have been pronounced \djoo-a-NET\ [7], where the first syllable is pronounced just as the word and the middle syllable is pronounced like the in or . If it is more important to you to use a name similar to than to keep your persona in 12th century England, you might consider looking a bit later in France. At Paris in 1292, for example, we find [8]: Jehanne Jehane Jehannete Jehannette In Calais and Artois around 1300, we find [8]: Jehane Jehaine Jehenne Jehanie Jehanete Jehenete Jane 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 Talan Gwynek, Ursula Georges, Richenda de Jardin, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Maridonna Benvenuti. For the Academy, Galiana de Baiona & Arval Benicoeur 24 Jan 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] 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:65 s.n. Johanna. [2] From Talan's 9/26 comments; need reference [3] Jacobsson, Harry, _E/tudes d'Anthroponymie Lorraine les Bans de Tre/fonds de Metz (1267-1298)_ (Go:teborg: Gumperts Fo:rlag, 1955), p.67. [4] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Joan. [5] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Bellett, Ivatt. [6] Clark, Cecily. 'Women's Names in Post-Conquest England: Observations and Speculations', in _Words, Names and History: Selected Writings of Cecily Clark_, Peter Jackson, ed. (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1995), p.130, note 70. [7] More precisely, the middle syllable is pronounced like the in . [8] 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). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html