Medieval Naming Guides: Occitan and Catalan
Occitan and Catalan Names
The languages of medieval southern France and northeastern Spain were
more closely related to one another than to French and Spanish. Names
and naming customs in southern France were also quite similar to those
in Catalonia, especially in the Middle Ages. Later in our period,
when the south was subsumed into France and Catalonia was united with
Aragón, names in both regions gradually grew more similar to
those in their political partners.
The language of medieval southern France is variously called
Occitan, Provençal, or the langue d'oc.
It is a distinct Romance language. The region where Occitan dialects
were spoken is shown on
this map
and this
one.
The language of medieval Catalonia was Catalan.
Maps of the linguistic regions of Iberia are available for
various dates:
c.900,
c.1150,
and
c.1300.
- Catalan Names
- Catalan Names in Latin Contexts: the late
12th century, by Juliana de Luna
- An analysis of men's and women's names, with examples of given names
and surnames and discussion of patterns of name construction.
- Catalan Names from 12th and 13th Century
Charters, by Arval Benicoeur
-
Jews in Catalonia: 1250 to 1400, by Juliana de Luna
- An analysis of several hundred names from wills.
- Names of 14th and 15th C Goldsmiths from Barcelona, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael.
- A collection of given names and bynames of 141 men.
-
Catalan Names from 15th-Century Barcelona, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
- Men's and women's given names and surnames from guild records.
- Catalan Names from the 1510 census of Valencia, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
- Names of men and women, with surnames: an analysis of "Cens del Regne de Valencia".
- Valencian Names of the Inhabitants of Peníscola, Easter 1549, by Gunnvor silfrahár
- An analysis of around 400 Catalan names from mid-16th C Valencia.
- Occitan and Provençal Names
-
French/Occitan Names From The XII And XIII Century,
by Ramons lo Montalbes
- An index of names which appear in a chanson de geste written by two
participants in the Albegensian Crusade.
- Names from Thirteenth Century Languedoc,
by Cateline de la Mor
- A list of given names found in a book on 13th century southern France.
- Languedoc Names circa 1300,
by Arval Benicoeur
- A list of names of 892 guildsmen of the city of Toulouse.
- Names from 13th- and 14th-Century Latin Records from Gascony, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
- Masculine and feminine given names and surnames from a document written in Latin.
- Jewish Physicians in Southern France in the 13th and 14th Centuries, by Eleazar ha-Levi
- Names of Jewish physicians practicing in the Occitan region of France between 1273 and 1421. Some names have been normalized or translated into English.
- Occitan
Townspeople in the 14th Century, by Juliana de Luna
- More than 200 names from court documents from Rodez in 1370.
- Feminine Names from Aosta, 1337 and 1351, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
- Feminine names in Latin contexts, from a town on the modern-day border between France and Italy.
-
Names from 14th C Périgueux, by Aryanhwy
merch Catmael
- Masculine and feminine given names from a study of 14th century tax rolls.
- Occitan names from Saint Flour, France, 1380-1385, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
- An analysis of the names of 819 men and women.
- Names from Fourteenth Century Foix,
by Cateline de la Mor
- A list of given names found in a book on early 14th century
southwestern France.
-
Some Names in Latin from a French document, circa 1442, by
Margaret Makafee.
-
Names from Bordeaux Commercial Documents, 1470-1520, by Aryanhwy
merch Catmael and Talan Gwynek.
- A list of names from several languages, recorded in French commercial
documents. The article is incomplete, but the data are correct.
- Late Period Feminine Names from the
South of France, by Talan Gwynek
- A list of women's given names and bynames from Languedoc, mostly from
16th century records.
- Qualques
noms de l'Edat Mejana, by Giani Vacca
- A list of masculine and feminine Provençal names. The author
lists his sources, which look good, but gives no dates. However, this
list appears to be reliable enough to trust.
-
Names found in a French Marriage Register, 1595, by Aryanhwy merch
Catmael
- The original document was created in the south of France, but
written in Middle French. The names are thus in Middle French
spellings of names that were in use in the Occitan region.
- Jewish Names
See the Jewish names index.
The Medieval Names Archive is published by
Ursula Georges. It was historically published by the Academy of Saint Gabriel.
Copyright on individual articles belongs to their authors.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/occitan.shtml