by Viscontessa Elisabetta Tommaso di Carduci, OP
(mka Jillian Johnson, [email protected])
This article will briefly describe the pattern of gemstone names that is found in the second half of the 16th century in England. Gemstone names are, on the whole, a rare occurrence but they are not absent. The Problem Names Project undertaken by the Academy of Saint Gabriel in the late 1990s addressed this with the article "Concerning the Name Amber" by Jessa Mittleman (https://medievalscotland.org/problem/names/amber.shtml). Evidence nearly thirty years later has supplanted this article, including use of the name Amber.
Gemstones can be found as both given names and as inherited surnames in the second half of the 16th century, as demonstrated below. In addition to these, precious metals such as gold and silver can be found as given names and surnames. When used as given names, they appear to have been borne by both men and women. Most of the names listed here are found in the FamilySearch database, and the two that are in the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (DMNES) can easily also be found in the FamilySearch records. I stopped at a single instance of each precious stone or metal; more dates and genders can be found with further research.
Given Names
| Name | Date | Gender | Citation |
| Saphira | 1571 | F | DMNES s.n. Sapphira, England, EME, https://dmnes.org/name/Sapphira |
| Saphara | 1596 | M | https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JS11-9X2?lang=en, batch C02242-2 |
| Ruby | 1581 | F | DMNES s.n. Ruby, England, EME, https://dmnes.org/name/Ruby |
| Diamond | 1563 | M | https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NB4D-QR6?lang=en, batch C06314-2 |
| Jasper | 1594 | M | https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JC98-KX3?lang=en, batch B00047-7 |
| Silver | 1593 | ? | https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDH8-S6D?lang=en, batch B00020-4 |
| Golde | 1583 | F | https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3MM-3Y8?lang=en, batch C02243-1 |
| Golde | 1585 | M | https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPKL-G65?lang=en, batch P00141-1 |
Surnames