Yorkshire Feminine Names from 1379

by Talan Gwynek (Brian M. Scott)
bmscott@stratos.net

These names were drawn from a Latin record in which all names were recorded in Latinized forms and in the ablative case. Fortunately, for most feminine names the ablative and nominative cases of the name are identical; the major exception is Agnes, whose ablative case is Agnete. However, it should be noted that these are official documentary forms of the names that these women actually bore. For instance, the women whose names were recorded as Dionisia and Auicia were probably called Denis and Avice respectively. (The clerk consistently wrote u where we would use v.) Similarly, an official Cecilia probably hides an everyday Sisley or even Sissot.

Parts of names enclosed in square brackets are editorial emendations in my source; starred names are diminutives.

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Masculine names

The Names

Alicia 400 / 401
     Alisia 1
Agnete 265 / 267     [1]
     Augnete 1
     Annya 1     [2]
Johanna 237
Emma 131 / 138
     Emmota* 7
Elena 96
Isabella 95
Margareta 81 / 91
     Mergareta 1
     Marg[areta] 1
     Marg... 1     [3]
     Mar' 1     [4]
     Magota* 6
Cecilia 57 / 80
     Cicilia 19
     Sissota* 3
     Syssota* 1
Matilda 65
Juliana 59
Katerina 40
Isolda 26 / 27
     Esota 1     [5]
Cristiana 18 / 24
     Kristiana 3
     Crystiana 1
     Cristiania 1     [6]
     Cristina 1     [7]
Beatrice 23
Dionisia 15 / 21
     Dyonisia 2
     Dyonicia 1
     Diota* 2
     Dyota* 1
Margeria 5 / 18
     Margor[ia] 1
     Marioria 11
     Marrio[ria] 1
Elizabetha 10 / 15
     Elizabe{gh} 1     [8]
     Elizota* 3
     Elisota* 1
Custancia 14
Idonia 9 / 13
     Idonea 2
     Ydonea 1
     Idon 1     [9]
Auicia 11
Lucia 8
Eua 4 / 7
     Euota* 3
Amicia 6
Petronilla 6
Sibilla 6
Agatha 4
Anabilla 4
Maria 1 / 4
     Mariota* 3
Leticia 2
Rosa 2
Sara 1 / 2
     Sarrota* 1
Amy 1
Claricia 1
Gemette* 1     [10]
Hawysia 1
Heufemia 1
Mariona 1
May 1
Oliue 1
 
Total: 1794 names

Notes

[1] This is the Latin ablative of Agnes.

[2] It is not clear what name this is supposed to represent; I have put it here on the basis of the possibility that it is a corrupt version of Annys, the vernacular form of Agnes.

[3] This could represent some version of Margeria as well, but Margareta is more common, so I put it here. (The ellipsis is provided by the editors of my source and appears to represent an unreadable portion of the manuscript.)

[4] This too could represent Margeria, Marioria, but I have chosen to place it with the more common name.

[5] This seems to be either a variant or a diminutive of Isolda, but it is not clear which it is.

[6] We might consider this a slightly different name, but I suspect that it is just a variant Latinization of the underlying vernacular name.

[7] Technically this is a slightly different name, derived from Old English christen Christian rather than Latin christianus Christian, but it is not clear how carefully the distinction was maintained in the 14th c., so I have put it here.

[8] The {gh} represents the letter yogh.

[9] This is probably the actual vernacular form.

[10] This appears to be a feminine diminutive of James, but the gender cannot be certainly determined from the record. This may also be an oblique case ending different from the nominative, though the difference probably matters only for the written record, not for the vernacular pronunciation.

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Masculine names




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