[ANSTHRLD] Resources for locative (sp?) surnames

[Lisa Theriot]

[I'm working on a new surname and I'm thinking of just doing a surname
based on location.  I have in mind SW France, the Saintonge region or
Gascony, where there might be a mix of English and French influence
during the HYW.]


There is absolutely no mix of English and French in that region in any
period. In fact, there is virtually no mix of English and French in
France.  Remember that the language of the English court was French
pretty much until we run out of Plantagenets.  You are much more likely
to find a mix of French and English name elements in England.  The
French (as they do to this day) resisted English at every turn.

If you'd like a giggle, here's a Middle French conversation guide for
English travelers in France, discussing the recent unpleasantness at
Agincourt:

http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/French/Texts/Period_03/1415-Un_Manuel_d
e_conversation.html


France did not itself have a unified language in period.  Gascony is in
the langue d'oc region of France; it has its own Gascon dialect, which
is a subdialect of Occitan.  Occitan looks rather like a blend of French
and Spanish or Portuguese.  You'll see more names ending in A and O than
E.  There are a number of articles on naming in this region here:

http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/occitan.shtml

In particular, you should look at this one:

http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/occitan/occitan-bynames.html

Occitan Townspeople in the 14th Century - Bynames

Many of these surnames are locative, so there are some placenames for
you to check.  If you are concerned as to whether there was a manor of
some kind, pick a name you like and search it in Google.  Most towns
have a website with a history section that will tell you when it was
founded and whether there was a titled lord.  

You can try this one:

http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/earlygasconlatin.html

Names from 13th- and 14th-Century Latin Records from Gascony

This is from an entirely Latin document, and most of the places are
translated into Latin.  A few of them look like their regular Gascon
forms, but you'll have to be a little bit of a detective.  For example,
the surname listed as <de Calhaco> refers to the Chateau that was called
Calhac in Occitan and Caillac in French.

[Any thoughts on how to identify the names of manors from that time and
area?]

This is kind of cool:

http://www.vialo.net/themenreihe.p?c=Ch%C3%A2teau%20Monument%20historiqu
e%20(France)

It's a list of castles in France.  Number 13 is Caillac; clicking on the
link will take you to French Wikipedia where you'll learn fascinating
things like the fact that the castle was mentioned as early as the 10th
century and the lord as of 1302 was Bertrand de Calhac.

There's a subfolder that lists the chateaus in the Aquitaine:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_ch%C3%A2teaux_d%27Aquitaine

Find one you like, or that is as close to where you want to be from as
possible, and look into how old it is.  This list would have Saintonge:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_ch%C3%A2teaux_de_Poitou-Charentes



Adelaide (who would be Adalayda in Occitan)