names-AN.art - 7/26/94 "A Short Treatise on Anglo-Norman Personal Names" by Mistress Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester. NOTE: See also the files: names-msg, names-Ger-art, names-Essex-art, names-Irish-msg, names-Norse-msg, names-Scot-art, Scot-fem-nam-lst. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called StefanÕs Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author. While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file. Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: Stefan li Rous stefan@florilegium.org ************************************************************************ A Short Treatise on Anglo-Norman Personal Names -- Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester It is a common misconception that medieval English naming practices centred on a relatively small number of personal names. While this is indeed true for the later medieval period, the Anglo-Norman period (which lasted from the Conquest on down to the beginning of the fourteenth century or so) provided a much larger variety of available and relatively common personal names. While certain of these were more popular than others, they did not dominate naming practices to the extent that names such as John, Thomas, Richard, and William for males and Anne, Elizabeth, Cecily, and Margaret for females did in later centuries. Furthermore, the popular names in the 13th century did not necessarily maintain their popularity in later years. The male names Roger and Simon and the female names Juliana and Matilda are good examples of this; while none of these names dropped completely out of use (though Matilda nearly did), they became far less frequent in later centuries after rivaling the Williams, Richards, Cecilys and Joans for popularity in the Anglo-Norman period. You will notice the popularity of saints' and Biblical names for both sexes. Names of great leaders or heroes (Constantine, Alexander, etc) seem to have also been used for males, though not as frequently as saints' names. Women's names pose a few problems. When the names were rendered into Latin in charters, often they were changed to make them fit the language. You will note that many of the femine names end in "a", which is merely the most common nominative feminine ending. Whether these names all actually ended in "a" is another matter, but it is clear that in many cases one may substitute "e" for "(i)a" and still have just as valid a name: Felicia => Felice; Amicia => Amice (and later, Amy), etc. I will not say much about surnames except to note the two most common forms. The first was used mostly by the upper classes and was originally a place-name describing where the family lived: de Quincy = "of Quincy", de Montfort = "of Montfort", etc. As families grew and migrated, many of these lost their place-meanings and simply evolved into family names. The other common type of surname was the occupational name or descriptive name: for instance: le Ferrier = "the smith", "Draper" = "The draper",etc. Anglo-Norman occupational names evolved right alongside English ones; neither was completely dominant. Eventually these, too, lost their original meanings and became merely surnames. A look through a book of documents will give you a host of different possible surnames. The names given here are taken from four collections of legal documents from around England: _Cartulary of Blyth Priory_, R.T. Timson, ed. (London: HMSO, 1973) DA 670 N9B5; _Feet of Fines for Essex _, R.E.G. Kirk, ed. (Colchester: Wiles and Son, 1899) DA 670 E7A12, _Feet of Fines for Somerset : Richard I-Edward I _, E. Green, ed. (London: Harrison and Sons, 1892) DA 670 S49S5, and _Warwickshire Feet of Fines v. I_ E. Stokes and F.C. Wellstood, eds. (London: Oxford University Press, 1932) DA 670 W3 D9 v.11 Men: Adam, Ailwin, Alan, Alard, Aldred,Alexander, Alured, Amaury/Amalric, Anselm, Arnald, Asa, Aubrey, Baldric, Baldwin, Bartholomew, Bennet, Bertram, Blacwin, Colin, Constantine, David, Edwin, Elias/Helyas, Engeram, Ernald, Eustace, Fabian, Fordwin, Forwin, Fulk, Gamel, Geoffrey*, Gerard, Gervase, Gilbert, Giles, Gladwin, Godwin, Guy, Hamo, Hamond, Harding, Henry*, Herlewin, Hervey, Hugh, James, Jocelin, John, Jordan, Lawrence, Leofwin, Luke, Martin, Masci, Matthew, Maurice, Michael, Nigel, Odo, Oliva, Osbert,Norman, Nicholas, Peter*, Philip, Ralf/Ralph*, Ranulf, Richard*, Robert*, Roger*, Saer, Samer, Savaric, Silvester, Simon*, Stephan, Terric, Terry/Thierry, Theobald, Thomas*, Thurstan, Umfrey, Waleran, Walter, Warin, William*, Wimarc, Ymbert Women: Ada, Adelina, Agnes*, Albreda, Aldith, Aldusa, Alice*, Alina, Amanda, Amice/Amicia*, Amiria, Anabel, Annora, Ascilia, Avelina, Avoca, Avice, Beatrice, Basilea, Bela, Berta, Celestria, Christian(a)*, Cicely/Cecilia*, Clarice, Constance, Dionisia/Denise, Edith, Ellen/Eleanor, Elizabeth, Emma, Estrilda, Eva, Felicia, Fina, Goda, Golda, Grecia, Gundrea, Gundred, Gunnora, Haunild, Hawisa*, Helen/Elena, Helewise, Hilda, Ida, Idonea, Isabel*, Isolda, Joan(na)*, Julian(a)*, Katherine, Leticia/Lettice, Liecia, Linota, Lora/Laura, Lucia, Mabel/Amabilia, Malota, Margaret, Margery*, Marsilia, Mary, Matilda/Maud, Mazelina, Millicent, Muriel, Nesta, Nicola(a), Parnel/Petronilla, Philippa, Primeveire, Richenda, Richolda, Roesia, Sabina, Sabelina, Sarah, Susanna, Sybil(la)*,Wymarc *denotes most common names ---- Copyright 1994 by Susan Carroll-Clark, 53 Thorncliffe Park Dr. #611, Toronto, Ontario M4H 1L1 CANADA. Permission granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided author is credited and receives a copy. If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan. Edited by Mark S. Harris names-AN-art