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The following is a list of Basque feminine given names and bynames found in various medieval sources. Not all of the names are of Basque linguistic origin--in fact, many of the names were popular throughout all Iberian cultures--but they were all used by Basque women. Each name is listed as a header, followed by the dates it was recorded. I have used MC to indicate names that were found in undated medieval cartularies.
A number of the names were found more than one time in the sources. For names where this is the case, I have included in brackets the number of times it was found in place of dates. These names were found in the 10th-13th centuries.
| Aldoncia | [3] | This is originally of Germanic origin. |
| Anderazo | [2] | This is of Basque origin, containing andere "lady, woman of the house." |
| Belascuza | MC | This is a feminine derivative of Belasco. |
| Belasquita | [3] | This is of Basque origin, a feminine derivative of Belasco, with a Spanish diminutive suffix, -ita. Bela means "crow." |
| Çinara | 1366 | In this case, the Ç is pronounced \ts\. |
| Constanza | [2] | |
| Domeca | MC | This is probably from the Latin feminine Domitia; if it is, then the c is pronounced \ts\. |
| Domicussa | 1206 | This is probably a derivative of Domeca or perhaps of Dominica. It has the same suffix as Belascuza, above. |
| Elvira | 13-14th c. | This was a popular Hispano-Gothic name. |
| Emazteona | MC | This literally means "good wife," but it was also used as a Basque given name. |
| Iuxta | 1350 | This appears to be a form of Justa |
| Jurdana | 1350 | This is from the feminine form of the Hebrew name Jordan. |
| Justa | 1350 | This is probably from the Latin Justus, Justa |
| Leguntia | [4] | This is probably from the Germanic Leodegundia. |
| María | [4] | |
| Mencia | [2] | The origin of this is uncertain; it could come from the Gallo-Latin name Mincius, which may be contracted from Minicius or Minucius, or a variant of Minthius |
| Oneca | MC | This is an early version of Iñiga, a feminine of Inigo. |
| Ortissa | ca.1230 | This is possibly from Ortiz. |
| Sancia Sancha |
1173 [4] 1350 |
This is from the Latin Sanctia; the masculine counterpart of this name was very popular in Basque country, where it appears as Santxo and Anso. |
| Toda | [17] | This is probably a variant of Tota, which was the name of a couple of early queens in various Spanish kingdoms. |
| Urraca | [7] | This is from the Spanish hurraca "magpie," which is from the Latin furax "thievish." |
| Yenega | 1350 | This is a feminine of Inigo. See Oneca above. |
| Ziannna | [2] | The triple 'n' in this name is probably a typo. |
Two women in these sources were listed with bynames. In both cases, the byname is descriptive, and follows the given name.
| beguy urdina | MC | This means "blue-eyes." |
| Suberria | 13-14th c. | This means "new-hearth." |
Sources:
Carrasco Pérez, Juan La Poblacio'n de Navarra en el Siglo XIV (Pamplona, Spain: Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A, 1973).
Gorrochategui, Joaquin, "Basque Names" in Walter de Gruyter, Name Studies, 1995.
Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995).
Zumalacárregui, Angeles Líbano and José A. Líbano, "La Anthroponimia en Alava, Guipuzcoa y Vizcaya en los siglos X al XIII", pp.259-281 in Antroponimia y Sociedad: Sistemas de identificación hispano-cristianos en los siglos IX a XIII (Valladolid, Spain: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and Universidad de Valladolid, 1995).
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