ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2857 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2857 ************************************ 6 May 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know how a Norman woman living in the late 12th century named would have been known as "daughter of Rolf" or "daughter of Rou". Here is the information we have found. As we said earlier, is a Latinized form of the Provencal name , which was imported to England in the early 13th century and eventually became , , etc. is a fine written form of the name -- in your period, names were routinely Latinized in Latin documents -- but it isn't a form that would have been used in speech. The spoken name is better represented as or ; these spellings are found in c.1202, 1211, and 1281 respectively. [1] In Anglo-Norman, a feminine patronymic (one indicating the bearer's father's name) could have consisted simply of the father's name, e.g. . As we also noted earlier, is a form of , which we find in the 11th century. [2] The byname 'the daughter of Rou' is also possible; while we have not found specific examples of this construction used for women, the corresponding masculine form, or , was fairly common during this period. [3] In Latin documents, the name would have been written as or ; these spellings of the Latin form are found in the 11th and 12th C respectively. [2] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear of if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 06May2004 -- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Rolf [3] Ibid., s.nn. FitzSimon, Hugh.