Early Portuguese Names
The names below come from a few of the earliest documents written in
Portuguese, which date to around 1200. The transcriptions were found in
Early Romance Texts: An Anthology (Rodney Sampson, ed., Cambridge
University Press, 1980). A few names are still Latinized
(Gonsaluus, Menendus), but most are clearly vernacular forms.
While the sample is too small to make statistical generalizations, some
general trends can be noted. A wide variety of names are found, suggesting
that no particular name was excessively popular. The vast majority of
bynames are patronymics, identifying the person's father, e.g.
Sanchiz "child of Sancho".
Portuguese uses several diacritical marks, most of which should be
reproduced properly below: c-cedilla as in Ramiriç, o-tilde as in
Gõcauo, a-tilde as in the middle of Ferrnãndiç. The
standard fonts don't include i-tilde so it is represented as i~ in
the name Marti~ below. C-cedilla is pronounced like English
s. The tilde indicates a nasal vowel, as in Modern French
quand, vin, and bon.
Feminine Names
| Elvira Sanchiz | 1192 |
| Elvira Gõcaluiç | c.1200 |
| Orraca | 1214 |
|
Masculine Names
| Rodrigo Sanchiz | 1192 |
| Vaasco Sanchiz | 1192 |
| Meen Sanchiz | 1192 |
| Vaasco Suariz | 1192 |
| Vermuu Ordoniz | 1192 |
| Meen Fanrripas | 1192 |
| Gonsaluu Vermuiz | 1192 |
| Gil Diaz | 1192 |
| Martio | 1192 |
| Martim Periz | 1192 |
Stepham Suariz
also Stephanus | 1192 |
| Iohannes Menendi | 1192 |
| Menendus Sanchez | 1193 |
| Sancho Diaz | 1193 |
| Gonsaluus Diaz | 1193 |
| Gonsaluus Petri | 1193 |
| Laurencius Fernãdiç | c.1200 |
| Gõcauo Ramiriç | c.1200 |
| Lourenco Ferrnãndiç | c.1200 |
| Marti~ Gõcaluiç | c.1200 |
| Afonso | 1214 |
| Sancho | 1214 |
|
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Arval Benicoeur.