name construction and Appendix A

[ursula]

sporky_rat asked for, "More information on the basics of onomastics on the not-English and not-French. Like Spanish names. How does one find the general usual rules for a woman's name in Christian Spain, 1500's?"

(If you'd like to suggest a topic for me to post about in January, the collection of questions is here.)

If you want basic information about medieval name construction in a reasonably popular European language, the place to start is SENA Appendix A. ("SENA" stands for "Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory".) There's some general information about abbreviations at the beginning of the appendix, and then tables for different languages. The tables are grouped by big geographical regions; you may have to use the search function in your browser, or scroll a bit, to find the exact culture you're interested in. Castilian Spanish is in the Iberian table.

The table has columns for different types of name structures that often show up in medieval documents: Double Given Names, Locative, Patronymic, Other relationship (such as relationships to mothers, siblings, or spouses), Descriptive/Occupational, Dictus (for "also known as" names), and Double Bynames. The final column, Order, tells you how different types of name were typically combined.

Underneath the table, there are notes. The notes may explain more complicated constructions. For example, the notes for Spanish suggest some ways to form a name based on the father's name. Usually, the notes also link to one or two articles that provide a more detailed discussion.

You can also find information on medieval names from specific cultures by going to The Medieval Names Archive or the heraldry.sca.org name articles page and following links for the culture you're interested in. However, for popular cultures there may be quite a few links to wade through. Appendix A is supposed to highlight the articles that an expert would check first.

Maintaining Appendix A is one of my jobs as the SCA's Palimpsest Herald, so if you have questions about how to use it, or are particularly pining for more detail on a specific culture, let me know!

Comments

[eller]

I have a question about Appendix A, locatives in German. "Locatives based on place names use the forms von X; generic toponymics use vom Y, or another form of der; the form de X is found before about 1300. Locatives based on generic toponyms, house names or inn-sign names use the form zum Z." - sounds correct enough, except I'm surprised at the last part about house or inn-sign names.

I'm not a historian, so I can only talk about modern German, but "zum" is short for "zu dem", which is the dativ of the male form. The female form would be "zur" ("zu der") and used if the following noun the inn is named after is feminine. An inn named after an oak tree would be called "Zur Eiche", not "Zum Eiche" - of course the language changed during the centuries, but "Zum Eiche" sounds completely off. (Or it changed at some point, in which case the time at which the "zur" form came into use should be noted - but either way, it seems the appendix is incomplete there.)

Oh, and another remark about inn names: The "zum" (or "zur") form can be used with any kind of noun. "Zum Einhorn" is clearly not a valid statement of location, but a perfectly valid inn name. In cases like this, the form specifies the inn being dedicated to the unicorn. Again, I'm clueless as to how to call that form, but, uh, I'm not sure it's a locative.

[eirias]

The SENA page's entry on Finnish names really surprised me. Finnish is not a Scandinavian language, or even Indo-European. The -son names are definitely Swedish in origin. Finnish family names are more likely to be diminutives or place names.

The Wikipedia article on Finnish names is interesting. Finland was controlled by Sweden for many centuries during the period I most associate with the SCA, and this article notes that Finns of higher status tended to adopt Swedish names during this period. Do SCA personas tend to be high status? That could explain it... although it still seems weird that truly Finnish naming styles don't get a mention.

[sporky_rat]

Ooooh. Yes.

Thank you.

This makes much more sense. At some point I want to sit down with someone and write all over my copy of SENA with someone who's much better with it.