ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2906
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2906
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27 Aug 2004
From: Femke de Roas 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!!

You asked us if <Vreile> would be an appropriate name for a Dutch 
woman during the period 1270-1301 with a byname of <Fayesdochter>, 
<Eylwardsdochter>, or <Jweinsdochter>.  

As you had noted, we have one example of <Vreile> as a feminine given 
name from the town of Ghent, in Flanders, recorded between 1250-1300 
[1].  A name known only from a single example might of course be a 
scribal error, especially when its etymology is unknown.  Names known 
from more than one citation are safer historical re-creation, but we 
have no reason to doubt that <Vreile> is a genuine Flemish feminine 
name from the second half of the 13th century.  It was pronounced 
roughly \VRAY-l@\, where \@\ represents the sound of <a> in <sofa> 
and <about>.

Patronymic bynames, i.e., bynames based on the father's name, are 
common in Dutch sources.  For example, a woman whose father is named 
<Torf> might well have been known as <Torfsdochter> [2].  Therefore, 
<Fayesdochter> based on the masculine name <Fayes>, and 
<Eylwardsdochter>, based on the name <Eylward> would both be 
appropriate since we have evidence of the use of both male given 
names during your period [1].    <Jwein> is misleading to the modern 
eye: it's simply a more decorative scribal variant of <Iwein>, from a 
time when the initials <I> and <J> were interchangeable.  The name is 
also found in the 12th and 13th centuries as <Iwain> and in such 
Latinized forms as <Iwainus>, <Iwanus>, and <Iuanus>, and we have an 
example of the pet form <Weinnins> from the 13th century. [3]

All three of the names <Vreile Fayesdochter>, <Vreile 
Eylwardsdochter>, and <Vreile Iweinsdochter> therefore appear to be 
suitable for a Dutch woman of the late 13th century.  The patronymics 
are pronounced roughly \FAH-yes-DOHKH-ter\, \AYL-warts-DOHKH-ter\, 
and \ee-WAYNS-DOHKH-ter\, where \OH\ stands for the vowel of <corn>, 
\KH\ stands for the rasping sound of <ch> in German <Bach> and 
Scottish <loch>, and \e\ stands for the sound of <e> in <let>.

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 or if you have 
further questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was 
provided by Talan Gwynek, Walvaren van Nijmegen, Arval Benicoeur, 
Julian de Luna and Aryanhwy merch Catmael.

For the Academy,
Femke de Roas
August 27, 2004
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REFERENCES

[1] Kees Nieuwenhuijsen, "Given names in the Low Lands Eigennamen in 
de Lage Landen 1250-1300" (WWW: privately published). 
http://www.keesn.nl/name13/

[2] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "15th Century 
Dutch Names" (WWW: privately published, 2000). 
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/dutch15.html 

[3] Tavernier-Vereecken, C., _Gentse Naamkunde van ca. 1000 tot 1253: 
een bijdrage tot de kennis van het oudste middelnederlands_ (Belguim: 
1968), p. 170.