Collected Precedents of the S.C.A.: Style


Name Precedents: Style

Laurel: Date: (year.month.date) Precedent:
Jaelle of Armida 1997.12 [Zachariah de Kane] Submitted as Zachariah Sword-of-the-Lord de Kane, this name combined extremely rare practices, making it unregisterable as submitted. The spectacular religious-phrase name is rare, as are double given names. To the best of our knowledge those practices were never combined. And, Sword-of-the-Lord is not an attested form, but rather a constructed form. [The name was registered in a modified form.] (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR December 1997, p. 7)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.10 [returning Llewelyn de Granville of Gwent (Known as Cadno)] The two locatives are a serious anomaly. Locatives are pretty rare in Welsh names in the first place and we have yet to find a single example of a double locative. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR October 1997, p. 12)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.10 The primary problem with the name is the form: <given name> <given name> <locative> <given name> <locative>. A quick survey of the first 4000 names (A-C) in the sixth volume of the Catalogo (dating around 1580), shows of those names, 5 had possibly four elements, and none had five. Of those five names, two (María Alvarez de Sotomayor de Quiroga and Pedro Gonzalez de Baeza de los Hermanos) are probably actually of the form <given name> <patronymic> <compound locative>. One other (Diego de Peralta Cabeza de Vaca) is probably of the form <given name> <locative> <compound locative> as Cabeza de Vaca is independently listed as a place name (in volume IV). The other two use the modern y formation: Diego García de Montalvo y Colindra and Miguel Jeronimo de Mendoza y Arquillada. [The name was returned.] (Constanzia Maria Morales Enzina d'Zamora, 10/97 p.11)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.09 The byname must be feminized to agree in gender with the given name. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR September 1997, p. 3)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.08 To the best of our knowledge, the Gaelic-speaking cultures do not seem to have used double given names. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1997, p. 5)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.07 [Connor Michael Maoll Donas] There are several problems with this name. The first is the fact that the Gaelic-speaking cultures do not seem to have used double given names. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1997, p. 16)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.07 [Connor Michael Maoll Donas] There are several problems with this name. The first is the fact that the Gaelic-speaking cultures do not seem to have used double given names. Another is the mixture of Gaelic and non-Gaelic orthographic systems: Connor is an English form of Conchobhar, and Ó Corráin & Maguire give the Irish borrowing of Michael as Míchél (early) and Mícheál (late), while the byname is clearly intended to be Gaelic. A less obvious problem is that the byname is improperly constructed. We have not seen any evidence that would lead us to think that a construction such as Mac Donas or Maoll Donas would have been used as a byname in period. The Maoll X names are confined to use with given names (presumably of saints) or words for other positive religious figures (e.g., God). And while there is a subset of given names formed from Mac+<abstract concept> the construction of these is not well enough understood to project hypothetical additions. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1997, p. 16)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.07 [registering Brenda Lynne of Clan Neil] Submitted as Brenda Lynne of the Clan MacNeil, the form Clan Neil or MacNeil would have been used, not the two in combination. We have changed it to the closest Anglicized form. [previously registered name was Brenda Lynne] (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR July 1997, p. 3)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.06 [registering Tymm Colbert le Gard] Submitted as Tymm Gard Colbert, this name had a severe problem. When in a medieval English name a patronymic and an occupational byname are found together, the patronymic invariably comes first. It's actually questionable whether the occupational byname is really part of the name or merely an indication of the bureaucracy's need to identify individuals unambiguously, since it is generally set off either by a comma or by the definite article. We have correct the name to the period form. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR June 1997, p. 8)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.01 The client allows no changes whatsoever so this is being returned for the out-of-period use of the comma in the name. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR January 1997, p. 21)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.02 [Returning House Caer Knot.] The name also has, to all intents and purposes, a double designator: in English, House Fort Knot. The fact that they are in different languages only serves to exacerbate the problem. He needs to choose just one. [2/94, p.23]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.02 [T]he name was not constructed according to any known period pattern. Arabic names were not formed by stringing given names together. [2/94, p.13]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.02 We need documentation for the use of four given names in Portuguese in period. Even for the Iberian Peninsula, this seems a bit much. [2/94, p.18]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1993.12b The name as submitted appears to be made up of modern variants of the individual elements. It is thus incompatible with the period and domain of the Society, as required by RfS I.1. As a consequence, we are required to return this for modification to period forms or for better documentation of each element than the works of Hanks and Hodges. [12b/93, p.11]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1992.02.12 In most (perhaps all) cultures naming customs tend to be very conservative. (How many parents today still use biblical names for their children, no matter what their religious orientation? How many still name their children with names first popularized in the early Renaissance? 'John' is still one of the most popular boys' names in this country - how long ago did it originate?) As a consequence, unless someone can convince the College that there is some compelling reason for disallowing names that our clients want simply on the grounds that they are unlikely because of a temporal gap, and that banning such temporally inconsistent names is of greater benefit to the Society than giving our clients the greatest possible leeway in selecting their Society names, I will continue to act as if the College is here to help our clients and not just build higher and higher hurdles for them to scale in the effort to register a Society-acceptable name." (CL 2/12/92 pps. 5-6).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1991.03.21 [Re: '<name> daughter of...'] "Admittedly, <name> is a masculine name, and has not been documented as a feminine given name in period. However, Mistress Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane (LoAR of 25 January 1987, p.7) noted that 'cross-gender names are so well-established a tradition in the Society that it would be pedantic to object' when she registered a masculine byname form with a feminine given. As a consequence of this long-standing acceptance of cross-gender names, I felt I could not but register this name." (CL 3/21/91 p.2).
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1991.11 "The use of a Greek adjective (as opposed to a Greek name element) in the middle of an Irish/English name seems unlikely. We would prefer to see some evidence of at least a pattern of similar naming practices in period." [The name was returned for this reason] (LoAR 11/91 p.19).
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1991.10 "As Mistress Alisoun also noted when she was Laurel, while temporal inconsistency in a name is sometimes notable, in a society where an Elizabethan lady can sit at the table next to an early Viking, requiring temporal consistency in a name seems to be asking more than is necessary." (LoAR 10/91 p.7).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1991.05 "Technically the first 'E' in Eire should have the fada. However, it is commonly written in English without it so we are registering Eire without change." (LoAR 5/91 p.6).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1991.03 [FitzMungo] "The documented names FitzNeill and Fitzpatrick, as only two examples of mixed Norman/Gaelic patronymics, lend credence to this usage." (LoAR 3/91 p.1).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.12 "Submitted as <given name> bint-Aamir, we have deleted the obtrusive hyphen." (LoAR 12/90 p.5).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.12 "The use of the Gaelic patronymic is inappropriate with an anglicization of the patronymic name." [the name was returned: note that this is may be anomalous as it is contrary to later acceptances in LsoAR of 1/91, 2/91, which allowed combinations such as nic Lowry, nic Andrew and nic Bryan] (LoAR 12/90 p.14).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.12 [the epithet al-Bodmani, an Arabic-style locative formed from a British town] "I can do little better than to quote Mistress Alisoun...'...the fact that the structure is compatible with Arabic naming practise makes the name admissible'. That the locative is extremely unlikely...does not make it unregisterable. It is formed in a manner consistent with Arabic practice." (LoAR 12/90 p.3).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.10 "Submitted as Elspeth Isabeau <byname>, the given names are two variants of Elizabeth. We have dropped the second in order to register the name." (LoAR 10/90 p.12).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.09 [Mont Saint Michel] "It is Laurel's belief that the presence or absence of hyphens in the name is not, considering most period (and even much post-period) orthography, a real issue." (LoAR 9/90 p.10).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.08 [The byname von An Tir] "The languages of the locative do not match (German and Welsh)." [The submission was returned solely for this reason. This ruling implies that SCA places are not entirely part of the "lingua franca" and are subject to the style rules for linguistic consistency] (LoAR 8/90 p.14).
Wilhelm von Schlüssel 1982.06.14 It is acceptable to have an adjective precede the given name, so long as you do not try to use an adjective as the given name. WVS [72] [LoAR 14 Jun 82], p. 4
Wilhelm von Schlüssel 1981.02.23 You do not put a surname between two given names. WVS [36] [LoAR 23 Feb 81], p. 6