Multigender Southern European Names

Frankish and French Names

Frankish

In the articles Masculine & Feminine Names from the Merovingian Line c.400-c.600 AD & Early Germanic Names from Primary Sources, we find:

Berthefried, Chlodosind, Ingund, Rigunth.

The last 3 are identified differently across the following two articles, from what may even be the same primary source. If the researchers didn’t agree on the gender of the name, I’m calling it sufficiently ambiguous for this purpose.

French

From An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris, we find the following name pairs that are identified as of different genders by their bynames, occupations or relationships:

Denise le Breton / Denise l'escrivainne

Erchambaut la charpentière / Erchambaut le corduanier

Estienne le chaucier / Estienne [une] fame

Genevote [un] fuiz / Genevote [une] nièce

Gile le mercier / Gile la boiteuse

Sire Nicole le Normant, escrivain / Nicole la boursière

The article What name forms were used by both men and women in 14th-16th C France? gives:

Claude, Denise and Denyse, Gile, Guillaume, Laurence, Marin, Phelippe, Phlippes, and Phlippe, Robert. It’s recommended to review the original article for further information and context.

Iberian Names, including Spanish, Portuguese, Occitan and Catalan

Catalan

Vives: Jewish name found in Catalonia in men’s and women’s name lists: Jews in Catalonia: 1250 to 1400

Bonadona: listed as a feminine name of Catalan origin in Jews in Catalonia: 1250 to 1400, and as masculine in Catalan Names from 12th and 13th Century Charters

French Occitan

Helis: found as feminine in Occitan Townspeople in the 14th Century - Women's Names and masculine in Occitan names from Saint Flour, France, 1380-1385

Pieret: found as feminine in Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France and masculine in Masculine Given Names in Morlet

Italian Names

Title

I proposed “Nobile” as a gender-neutral Italian title of the rank of Award of Arms. Florio's 1611 Italian/English Dictionary gives this definition: “Nóbile, noble, famous, excellent, greatly knowne, a Gentleman by birth or title” and in modern Italian it is a gender neutral term.

It can be found used, with initial capital or all lowercase; before a person’s name: (Nobile Giovanni Battista Barbaro, nobile Barbara Bossa); after a person’s name: (Tristano Calco, nobile); or with a placename: (Lavinia Biglia Nobile Milanese).

This was accepted on the May 2021 Letter of Acceptances and Returns - Cover Letter:

We [...] approve nobile as a gender-neutral title in late period Italian at the rank of an Award or Grant of Arms. This title can be used either before (nobile Barbara Bossa) or after (Tristano Calco, nobile) the name. Use of the forms il nobile or la nobile will cause this title to become gendered.

Given names

The following given names were found by creating master lists of names listed as masculine and feminine, by compiling numerous articles, and finding all names common to both lists. The source lists were from different parts of the Italian peninsula which had different dialects and name pools in SCA period; those looking for a historically accurate name should refer to the source articles with this in mind.

The source articles used are as follows. Please note, determining the article which was the source of a specific name, or more detail on a name, can be made easier using the search function at morsulus.org.

South Italian Names from the Norman Kingdom, 11th-12th Centuries, Giano Balestriere

Feminine Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia, Arval Benicoeur

Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names, Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek

Milanese Notaries 1396-1635 & 15th & 16th Century Names from Trieste, Maridonna Benvenuti

Italian Men's Names in Rome, 1473-1484, Mari Elspeth nic Bryan

15th Century Italian Men's Names from Pavia and Ferrara, Talan Gwynek

Florentine Renaissance Resources: Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532, ed. David Herlihy, R. Burr Litchfield, and Anthony Molho

Names from Sixteenth Century Venice,  Names in 15th Century Florence and her Dominions: the Condado,Late Period Italian Women's Names, Masculine Names from Thirteenth Century Pisa, & Names from 15th and 16th Century Pisa, Juliana de Luna

Names from 15th Century Naples, Names from an Early 16th C Census of Rome, Italian names from Imola, 1312, Fifteenth Century Venetian Masculine Names, Names from the Chronicon Spilimbergense, A handful of early southern Italian feminine names, Italian Masculine Given Names from 15th- and 16th-century Viterbo & Names from Arezzo, Italy, 1386-1528, Sara L. Uckelman

Bynames

It appears that bynames were usually the same across genders, with most people using a patronymic (“di <father’s name>”). Locative and family names are also found and appear to be the same across genders. As a result, a huge variety of bynames could be constructed based on given names in the above articles or placenames found in period. A more detailed analysis can be found at Names in 15th Century Florence and her Dominions: the Condado.

Roman Names

Roman given names names appear to be highly gendered, women’s names end in -a and men’s names usually in -us. Although other endings exist they are used only by men in the potential sources examined for this article.

At its height, the Roman empire spanned much of Europe and many people who were not ethnically Roman became Roman citizens. People interested in this period of history may find inspiration from articles on Celtic, Germanic and North African names, among others. Particularly recommended: Celtic Personal Names of Roman Britain (CPNRB) has 600(!) names for which the authors listed gender as ‘uncertain’.

Article compiled by Clare Drake based on original research and articles by Giano Balestriere, Arval Benicoeur, Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester, Colm Dubh, Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, ed. David Herlihy, R. Burr Litchfield, and Anthony Molho, and Sara L. Uckelman