ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2937 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2937 ************************************ 26 Oct 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if or is an appropriate name for an early 14th-century English woman. Your byname is fine; we find recorded in 1327. [1] The feminine name is recorded in 1324, and in 1328. [2] As we said in our initial correspondance with you, and are both Latin spellings. These are appropriate for contexts where Latin was used, such as written documents, church settings, or some university settings where Latin was spoken. In every day speech, however, these forms would not have been used. It is not clear what the vernacular English spelling of was, but we can offer some possibilities. is possibly a feminine form of , which is found as an English masculine name as , , and . [3] We found a woman named in 1584. [4] This leads us to believe that was used in the same form for both women and men. In your period, we find a man named in 1273; his father's name was likely . [4] We also found one or in 1279. [1] Based on these, we believe that or is the most likely vernacular form of or , though other variations (such as ) are also possible. 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 Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 26 Oct 2004 -- References: [1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.nn. Amery, Fairbody [2] 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/ [3] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Almeric [4] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). s.n. Amery