Collected Precedents of the S.C.A.: Steps From Period Practice (a.k.a. "Weirdnesses")


WARNING: All rulings on this page have been superseded by the Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory (SENA). For lingual combinations which are currently allowed without documentation, please see SENA Appendix C. For discussion of allowable temporal disparity, please see SENA PN.2.C..

Name Precedents: Steps From Period Practice (a.k.a. "Weirdnesses")

See also:

Laurel: Date: (year.month.date) Precedent:
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 Submitted as Constance inghean Conchobair, the patronymic mixes a Middle Irish Gaelic patronymic with the Early Modern Irish Gaelic patronymic particle. In addition, Gaelic grammar requires that patronymics beginning with the letter C must lenite or soften when used as part of a feminine name. Therefore, we have changed the name to Constance ingen Chonchobair to make the patronymic temporally consistent and to correct the grammar.

This name mixes English and Gaelic orthographies in a single name; this is one step from period practice.[Constance ingen Chonchobair, 05/04, A-Middle]

Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 Submitted as Emma Idunn, this name combines an English given name and an Old Norse given name. Because Old Norse does not use unmarked patronymics, Idunn is not a properly formed byname. The properly constructed Old Norse form would be Idunsdottir.

To make this name registerable, the byname must either be changed to a close English form or to the properly constructed Old Norse form. Because a name mixing Middle English and Old Norse is one step from period practice, we have changed this name to Emma Idone, an all English form. Unmarked patronymics are common in English. Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, dates this spelling of the byname to 1327. The change from Idunn to Idone is also a smaller change in sound and appearance than the change from Idunn to Idunsdottir. [Emma Idone, 05/04, A-Aethelmearc]

Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 Using a placename in an Order name was declared a step from period practice in 11/96. However, Argent Snail argues, "If you look at the list of order names, there are ones that have place names in them, usually because there is more than one order with the same name -eg the Order of Saint Jaelle of Jersusalem and the Order of Saint Jaelle of London." Meradudd Cethin's "Project Ordensnamen", describes Order names of the form [name+place] as the third most common pattern in the data set. Given such evidence, Order names containing place names are consistent with period practice. However, the Order name Order of the Silver Saddle of Trimaris is one step from period practice. By precedent, use of the descriptive term Silver in an Order name is one step from period practice. [Trimaris, Kingdom of, 05/04, A-Trimaris]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 This name combines Welsh and Anglicized Gaelic elements, which is one step from period practice.[Kendal Macalpin, 05/04, A-Middle]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 This name combines English and Gaelic elements in a single name; this is one step from period practice. The double given names Caitlin Christiana are grandfathered to the submitter, whose name Caitlin Christiana Rosa del León was registered in 1987. The Grandfather Clause allows a submitter to register name elements from a previously registered name, so long as they are used in the same manner and exactly the same spelling as in the previously registered name and no new violations of the Rules for Submissions exist in the new name that did not exist in the registered name. Therefore, we must ask if the changes in byname and name construction introduce a new violation of the Rules for Submission that was not present in the original submission. They does not. Instead, the change from Rosa del León to Wintour reduces the number of languages in this name. Therefore, this name is registerable via the Grandfather Clause. [Caitlin Christiana Wintour, 05/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 The given name is documented as the name of a King of the Goths and dated to 410. Combined with the 16th C spelling of the surname, there is a more than 1000 year gap between the dates for the names. This is an unregisterable combination; in such cases either documentation must be found that lessens the dates between the names, or the name must be returned. In this case, documentation was found that lessens the gap in dates. Morlet, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle dates Alaricus to the 12th C. This is a Latin form, but the vernacular would be Alaric. This leaves only a 400 year gap between the names; this is still one step from period practice, but it is registerable. [Alaric Wintour, 05/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 This name combines a Spanish given name with an Anglicized Irish surname. Names mixing Spanish and Anglicized Gaelic elements are not registerable [Sanchia O'Connor 7/97]. Nebuly puts it succinctly: "Withycombe does indeed document the given name Teresa to 1515-82, but as a Spanish name." [Teresa Mac Connelly, 05/04, R-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 This name combines English and German elements, which is one step from period practice. Some commenters wondered whether Rheinfels was a period spelling for this name, but no one found a period citation for this undoubtedly period castle. Therefore, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt for the spelling of the byname. [Godfrey von Rheinfels, 05/04, A-Atenveldt]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.05 While not in itself a reason for return, the name mixes English and Spanish, which is a step from period practice. The given name, Isabella, was documented from Withycombe, The Oxford Dictionary of English Given Names. Unfortunately, Withycombe is an unreliable source for names outside of England. The Spanish form of Isabella is Isabel or Ysabel; the name is found in these spellings from the 13th through the 16th C. If the submitter is interested in an authentic Spanish name, we suggest that she use one of these spellings. [Isabella Maria-Magdalena Fernandes de Chaves, 05/04, R-Trimaris]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 This name mixes an English place name with an otherwise Scots name; such a mixture was declared one step from period practice in September 2001. However, many Scots name forms are identical to English name forms. Furthermore, many of the standard sources used by the SCA College of Arms, including the Oxford English Dictionary and Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames, make no distinction between English and Scots forms. We are therefore overturning this precedent, and declaring that names combining Scots and English forms are no longer considered a step from period practice. [Michael Duncan of Hadley, 04/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 This name combines Gaelic and Scots, which is one step from period practice. [Muireadhach Fairley, 04/04, A-Lochac]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 The submitter requested an authentic name with "the first name Norse and the second name Scottish." While there is a great deal of evidence for Norsemen adopting Gaelic names and vice versa, there is no evidence that Norse and Gaelic orthographies were combined in this manner. This name combines Norse and Gaelic orthographies, which has been ruled one step from period practice. As submitted, it's not authentic although it is registerable.

To make this name authentic, it should be in entirely in either Norse orthography or Gaelic orthography. An entirely Norse form would be Einarr Domnalsson; Talan Gwynek's draft article "Old Norse Forms of Early Irish Names" gives Domnall as the normalized form of the runic "tomnal", which is found in an inscription on a 12th C Icelandic sword hilt. As the College has been unable to find a Gaelic form of Einarr, we cannot speculate on a fully Gaelic form of this name. [Einarr mac Dhòmhnuill, 04/04, A-Calontir]

Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 This name combines Gaelic and Scots orthographies, which is one step from period practice.

[Caitrina de Bruce the Fowler, 04/04, A-Artemesia]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 The name combines English and Flemish. Barring documentation of such combinations, this is one step from period practice. [Rosalind Ryne, 04/04, A-Lochac]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 By precedent, combining French and German in a single name is one step from period practice. [Gabrielle von Friedrichsthal, 04/04, A-Calontir]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.04 The second problem is that the name mixes an English given name with a Lithuanian byname. As no documentation was submitted showing contact between these two cultures, and none found by the College, such combinations cannot be registered. The submitter may want to consider using a German form of Katherne, since there was contact between Germany and Lithuania in period. Some forms are Katherin 1337, Katherine 1366, and Kethe 1365.

Finally, the name combines a German preposition with a Lithuanian name in the same name phrase. The Rule for Submission III.1.a says "Each phrase must be grammatically correct according to the usage of a single language." Barring documentation that Risna is a German form of this place name, these two words cannot be combined in a name phrase. A better alternative would be to use an appropriate Lithuanian form for the locative byname. However, since we do not know the appropriate form for the place name, we are unable to suggest its byname form. [Katherne von Risna, 04/04, R-Lochac]

Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 Mixing Gaelic and English orthography in the same name is vanishingly rare and is considered one step from period practice. [Eithne of Brechin03/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 This name combines a 12th C placename with an otherwise 16th C name. However, this temporal disparity is only one step from period practice. A possible 16th century form this of name is Fergus MacCarlich of Earlistoune; this spelling of the locative is dated to 1553 in Black. [Fergus MacCarlich of Ercildune03/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 This combines an Italian given name with a French byname, which Laurel precedent considers a step from period practice. [Isabetta Delecroix, 03/04, A-Meridies]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 While we know of no examples where Norse and Russian are used in the same name, there is enough contact between the cultures for this to be only one step from period practice.

The submitter specified an interest in having the name be authentic for a language and/or culture, he did not specify which culture. We are, therefore, not able to change the name to meet this request. The name Ari viligisl would be an entirely Norse form. We were unable to find an entirely Russian form.  [Arii viligisl, 03/04, A-Caid]

Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 This name adds an Italian placename to an otherwise Spanish name. Although the submitter provided documentation for Soldano as a placename in period, no documentation was provided that this particular form was used in Spain. A Laurel precedent of August 2001 holds that combining Spanish and Italian in a single name is a step from period practice, hence registerable.  [Diego Rivera de Soldano, 03/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 The combination of Russian and French is at least a step from period practice. A fully French form of this name is Taurin Sanglier. [Tauron Sanglier, 03/04, A-Caid]
Shauna of Carrick Point 2004.03 [...] The submitter noted she will accept her legal given name Keryl; however, this introduces a new problem. The use of a legal given name which has not been documented as a period name is one step from period practice:

If the name element can be documented as being used in the submitted position in period, there is no weirdness for use of this name element. As an example, if John is submitted as a masculine given name under the Legal Name Allowance, there is no weirdness for use of this element, because it is documentable as a masculine given name in English in period. On the other hand, if Craig is submitted as a masculine given name under the Legal Name Allowance, there would be a weirdness for use of this element. In this case, Craig would be the submitter's legal given name. While Craig is a commonly accepted masculine given name today, no evidence has been found of it being used as a given name in period. It is registerable as a given name only through the Legal Name Allowance and so carries a weirdness.

Using an an SCA compatible name element such as the Wanderer is also a step from period practice. As Keryl the Wanderer would be two steps from period practice, we cannot make these changes either. [Karolyne, called the Wanderer, 03/04, R-Caid]

François la Flamme 2004.03 Cyneswith is an Old English feminine given name dated to 656. Old English and Gaelic is registerable with a weirdness (see the discussion for Eithne of Cantwaraburg, registered in August 2002). In order to avoid a second weirdness for a temporal disparity, the byname would need to be dated no later than 300 years after the date for Cyneswith. Ó Corráin & Maguire (p. 85 s.n. Eithne) give Eithne as the name of a woman who died in 795 and who was the daughter of "Domnall Mide, the high-king". This reference supports Domnall as a mid to late 8th C name, less than 300 years after the date for Cyneswith. Therefore, the name Cyneswith ingen Domnaill would be registerable with a single weirdness for combining Old English and Old Gaelic in a name. [Cyneswith a bíth inghean Domnaill, 03/2004, R-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2004.03 [...] This name includes a Hungarian masculine given name, Lorand, in an otherwise English name. Lacking evidence of significant contact between speakers of Hungarian and English in period, a name combining these languages is not registerable.

The submitter indicated that sound was most important to him. Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/paris.html) lists Lorent de Tongues. As a name combining English and French is registerable, we have changed the Hungarian Lorand to the French Lorent to resolve the lingual combination issue in order to register this name. [Sabin Lorent Axstell of Mordaf, 03/2004, A-Middle]

François la Flamme 2004.03 This name is being returned for having two weirdnesses.

Iror is documented as an Old Norse masculine given name in Geirr Bassi (p. 12). As such, it is undated but appropriate for up to approximately 1100. The word insane was documented as an English word dated to 1550. Therefore, this name has one weirdness for combining Old Norse and Middle English and one weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years.

Any changes we could make in order to register this name would involve a complete change of the byname. The College found a number of options that may interest the submitter. As there are multiple options, and the form gives no indication of what is most important to the submitter, we are returning this name and providing the information found by the College so that the submitter may choose how he wishes to proceed.

A ruling found in the January 1997 LoAR lists a number of period Middle English bynames with similar meanings to the Insane:

There are plenty of genuinely period ways to express the idea: Reaney & Wilson s.nn. Witless and Giddy have John Wytles 1327 and Walter le Gidye 1219 'possessed of an evil spirit; mad, insane', and in his Origin of English Surnames (289) Reaney notes Ralph Badinteheved 1275 'bad in the head'. [Morgaine Lynn (Alternate name of Morgaine the Insane), 01/1997 LoAR, A-East]

A name combining the Old Norse given name Iror with one of these bynames would have one weirdness for combining Old Norse and Middle English in a single name, but would not have a weirdness for temporal disparity since the elements would be dated less than 300 years apart. Therefore, such a name would be registerable with only one weirdness.

Silver Nautilus found an Old Norse byname with a similar meaning in Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "Viking Bynames found in the Landnámabók" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/vikbynames.html), which lists the byname inn óði as having the meaning 'mad, frantic, raging'. This byname would support a Lingua Anglica byname such as the Mad, but not the Insane. Iror inn óði would be the fully Old Norse form of this name. [Iror the Insane, 03/2004, R-Calontir]

François la Flamme 2004.03 This name is being returned for a combination of linguistic and temporal compatibility issues.

Both elements of this name were documented from Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn's article "Early Irish Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/irish-obrien.html). The author has requested that this article be withdrawn, as it does not distinguish between legendary names and names known to have been used by real people in history, and other articles are now available covering this area of interest. However, the College was able to find other documentation for these elements.

As Colm Dubh's article, "The Ban-Shencus: A Dated Index", KWHS 2003 Proceedings (pp. 1-4), dates a Conandil to the 7th C, Conandil is registerable in that context.

Going to the source for Tangwysytl's article cited above, and comparing these entries to those in annals, it is possible to identify that the men who had Glass as a byname lived in time periods that must be considered legendary. One appears in the "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 1, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005A/) in entries M4291.1 and M4296.1, which roughly correspond to 903 B.C. and 898 B.C. The earliest example of a non-legendary man with Glas as a byname occurs in the 14th C. Lacking evidence that this byname was used during the Old Irish (c. 700 to c. 900) period, the Old Irish form Glass is not registerable.

Based on this information, Conandil is supported as an Old Irish (c. 700 to c. 900) form of a name dated to the 7th C, and Glas is supported as an Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700) byname dated to the 14th C. Therefore, this name has one weirdness for combining elements that are dated more than 300 years apart. A form of this name that would combine these documented forms would be Conandil Ghlas, which uses the documented form of this byname and adds lenition. However, it has been previously ruled that the differences between Early Modern Irish Gaelic and Middle Irish Gaelic are sufficient that a name mixing these forms of Gaelic carries a weirdness. Therefore, the form Conandil Ghlas would have a second weirdness for combining Early Modern Irish with Old Irish and, so, would not be registerable. [Conandil Glass, 03/2004, R-Northshield]

François la Flamme 2004.03 This name has multiple problems.

The given name is documented from a Web page that asserts that Ogar was the name of a king of Urhai (modern Edessa) who Eusebius says corresponded with Jesus. Nebuly provided this information:

The relevant portion [of the website] concerns an account of "Ogar, kind [sic] of Urhai" whom Eusebius records as corresponding with Jesus. The bit that helped me trace back to the original material is in the preceding paragraph, where Urhai is identified with Edessa.

The account in question is related near the end of Book 1 of Eusebius' History of the Church in a story about the apostle Thaddeus: "Thus it happened that when King Abgar, the brilliantly successful monarch of the peoples of Mesopotamia...heard continual mention of the name of Jesus and unanimous tribute to His miracles, he sent a humble request to Him, begging for relief from his disease."

Jesus is said to have replied with a personal letter. Eusebius visited the archives at Edessa and translated the letter from Syriac, in which the recipient is named Abgar Uchama the Toparch. My edition footnotes that Abgar ruled from 13 A.D. to 50 A.D. Thus, the spelling in Eusebius (Abgar) does not match that used in the cited web page (Ogar). This appears to be an error on the part of the authors, or perhaps in the source they used. We therefore have no support for the given name in the submitted spelling.

As the documentation does not support Ogar as a period spelling, it is not registerable.

Drakon, rather than Dracon, is a Greek given name. However, no documentation was presented that it was also a reasonable byname construction in Greek. Barring that evidence, it cannot be registered as a byname.

The submission combines a 1st C A.D. name of unclear origin with a Greek name from the 7th C B.C. The LoI did not discuss the language spoken in Urhai/Edessa; Nebuly's and Siren's research suggests that it was probably Syriac but may have been Greek. If Syriac, the name clearly has two weirdnesses, one for mixing Syriac and Greek and a second for combining elements with over 600 years between them. As the College did not have the opportunity to consider the evidence for this lingual mix or for the language(s) spoken in Urhai/Edessa, this combination cannot be registered. [Ogar Dracon, 03/2004, R-Middle]

François la Flamme 2004.03 This name is being returned for having two weirdnesses: one for the lingual mix and a second for temporal disparity.

The documentation showed that the given name Ago was used as a Frankish name recorded in 974. Frankish is the dialect of Old High German spoken in what is today France. The byname Praunfalk is a Middle High German byname dated to 1560.

Just as there is a weirdness for combining Old English with Middle English, or Middle Gaelic with Early Modern Gaelic, there is a weirdness for combining Old High German and Middle High German.

Since the given name is dated to 974 and the byname is dated to 1560, this name also has a weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years between the elements. [Ago Praunfalk, 03/2004, R-Drachenwald]

François la Flamme 2004.02 Sufficient contact existed between Flanders and Scotland in period to make a name combining Flemish and Scots registerable, though this combination is a weirdness. [Tanne Comyn, 02/2004, A-Artemisia]
François la Flamme 2004.02 This name combines a Welsh given name with a Spanish byname. No evidence was presented, nor could the College find any, that there was significant contact between Welsh speakers and Spanish speakers in our period. Barring such evidence, a name combining Welsh and Spanish elements is not registerable. [Gweneth Sastre, 02/2004, R-Outlands]
François la Flamme 2004.02 The structure of this name raises issues as well. As submitted, it combines Persian and Roman name elements, an issue which the LoI did not address. Fortunately, the College was able to provide information that there was sufficient contact that the combination should be registerable, though with a weirdness. However, it combines a Persian given name with two Roman cognomen. Given that the majority of the name elements are Roman, the structure of this name must be judged in Roman terms.

The normal structure of a Roman name is [praenomen] [nomen] [cognomen], as in Caius Iulius Caesar. The elements Tigris and Iaxarticus are submitted as cognomens. Given names from other cultures do not map well to the Classical Roman trinomina system, but Darius could be considered equivalent to a nomen in the submitted name. A nomen followed by a cognomen, as in Iulius Caesar, is a normal use name in Classical Latin. There are many cases of Roman notables with multiple cognomens, such as Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, who was also sometimes identified with just the cognomens as Scipio Africanus. However, no evidence was presented that the a nomen followed by multiple cognomens would be a reasonable usename for Classical Roman. Barring such evidence, the name cannot be registered in this form. [Darius Tigres Jaxarticus, 02/2004, R-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2004.01 This name has one weirdness for mixing the English Athelstan with an otherwise Scots name and a second weirdness for a double given name in Scots. As the submitter allows no major changes, we were unable to drop one of the given names in order to register this name.

Additionally, no evidence was found that the spelling MacKendry is a plausible period form. Metron Ariston found a spelling quite close to the submitted MacKendry:

Under MacHendrie in Surnames of Scotland, Black notes Gilchrist Makhenry from 1480, which is very close indeed.

[Malise Athelstan MacKendry, 01/2004, R-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2004.01 This name is being returned for a combination of issues.

Briana is a literary feminine given found in Spanish and English in late period (see the Cover Letter for the December 2001 LoAR for details). Bronwen is an SCA-compatible Welsh feminine given name. Regarding Du Bois, the LoI stated:

Du Bois is found in "French Surnames from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" by Aryanhwy merch Catmael (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/paris1423surnames.html), with this spelling dated to 1421 and 1423.

In fact, the spelling dated to 1421 and 1423 in that source is du Bois not Du Bois.

Therefore, this name has one weirdness for an element (Bronwen) that is SCA compatible. Additionally, this name (at best) combines Welsh, English, and French in a single name. The LoI did not address whether such a combination complies with RfS III.1, which states in part, "Each name as a whole should be compatible with the culture of a single time and place". At best, such a combination is a weirdness. Alternatively, it is not registerable. Regardless, this name has one weirdness for use of the SCA-compatible element and at least one weirdness for the lingual combination, and is, therefore, not registerable.

As the submitter allowed no major changes, we were unable to drop the element Bronwen and register her name as Briana du Bois. [Briana Bronwen Du Bois, 01/2004, R-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2003.12 Submitted as Donnghal  Buchanan, Donnghal is an Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form of a name found in Old Irish Gaelic (c. 700 to c. 900) and Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) as Donngal. No evidence was found of this name used later than circa 1100. Lacking evidence that this name was in use when Early Modern Irish Gaelic was in use, we have changed this name to the Middle Irish Gaelic form Donngal in order to register this name.

Buchanan is a location in Scotland. It is found as a byname in Scots (a language closely related to English) and in Latin in period. Aryanhwy merch Catmael notes that "R&W s.n. Buchanan cite Black for <de Buchanan> c.1270, 1373, <Buchanan> 1506-82."

Based on this information, the submitted form of this name combined a Gaelic given name dated no later than circa 1100 with a Scots byname found in that form in the 16th C. As a result, it had one weirdness for combining Gaelic and Scots in a name and one weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years. We have changed the byname to a 13th C form in order to remove the weirdness for temporal disparity in order to register this name. [Donngal de Buchanan, 12/2003, A-Atenveldt]

François la Flamme 2003.12 This name mixes Spanish and Italian, a combination which has been ruled registerable, though with a weirdness. The LoI documented Gabriele as an undated Italian masculine given name. The College was able to find evidence of this name, in this spelling, in 14th to 16th C Italy. While the more common forms of a byname derived from the masculine given name Gabriele would be di Gabriele or Gabrieli, there are examples of unmarked patronymic surnames in period Italian. Therefore, this name may be registered as submitted. [Isabella Gabriele de Álora, 12/2003, A-West]
François la Flamme 2003.12 Engelbert was documented as the name of a saint who was born in 1185. However, the Web site used for documentation of this name merely lists saints. Many such sources routinely normalize the names of saints and, so, do not support the headers used for saints' names as appropriate spellings in period, even for the time period in which that saint lived. The College found support for the spelling Engelbertus in France dated to a917-42. Engelbert is likely a vernacular form of Engelbertus. The section "From Pelican: Regarding the Registerability of Saints' Names", in the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR, explains the conditions under which saints' names are registerable, including:

[T]he form that the saint's name takes in the submitted name is subject to the standard rules and precedents, including those regarding weirdnesses that were set down in the August 1999 cover letter.

No evidence was provided and none was found that Englebert was used later than the 10th C, even as a reference to this saint. Lacking such documentation, Englebert must be evaluated as a 10th C French name.

While documentation was presented showing that pious was a word in 1603, no documentation was presented and none was found that the word pious was used before 1600. Descriptive bynames using words documented only to late period or just post-period are problematic. By the 16th C, inherited surnames had replaced literal descriptive bynames. Therefore, it is highly improbable that (1) a literal descriptive byname would have been used circa 1600, and that (2) it would have used a word new to the English language. At this time, descriptive bynames of this type are registerable on a case by case basis depending upon the plausibility of the byname in question.

As a result, this name combines a 10th C French name with a circa 1603 English descriptive byname. There is no weirdness for combining French and English in a name. Therefore, this name has a single weirdness for combining elements with a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years and is registerable. [Engelbert the Pious, 12/2003, A-Middle]

François la Flamme 2003.12 Submitted as Deirdre Stewart, this name had two weirdnesses as submitted. Deirdre was ruled SCA compatible in March of 1998. This name combined the Gaelic form Deirdre with Stewart, which is Scots (a language closely related to English). There is one weirdness for use of an SCA compatible name element and one weirdness for combining Gaelic and Scots in a name. Black (p. 204 s.n. Deirdre) dates Deredere to 1166. Given which source Black cites for this reference, Deredere is undoubtably a Latinized form of a Gaelic given name. We have changed the given name to this form in order to remove the weirdness for use of an SCA compatible element in order to register this name. [Deredere Stewart, 12/2003, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2003.12 This name is being returned for (1) lack of evidence of significant contact between speakers of Polish and French (or Hungarian and French, depending upon how you view the given name) in period, and (2) grammatical issues with the byname.

Listed on the LoI as Kinga la Roux, this name was submitted as Kinga de la Roux, the byname was changed at Kingdom to better match available documentation.

The LoI provided documentation of Kinga found in Polish records in period:

Feminine given name recorded in Poland as Kinga in 1266, Kynga in 1275, and Kince c1320, all of which apparently refer to the same person. Kinga appears to be a diminutive of Kunegunda, or at least this individual was known by both names. [Taszycki, Witold, S{l'}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych, 7 vols. Vol. 2, Wroclaw: Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987, pp 583b-584a] [Taszycki, Vol.2, p 584a]

The LoI also notes that the person referenced in these records is a woman who went on to become a saint. Nebuly identifies that the woman in question is culturally Hungarian, even though she is found in Polish records:

The submitter has successfully documented period use of the Hungarian name Kinga, but has failed to address the other reason for her previous return. Yes, the submitter has found Kinga in Polish records, but that does not make it a Polish name. I can find records of Suleiman the Magnificent in French, but that doesn't make Suleiman a French name. Likewise, all the citations in the SSNO for Kinga refer to the Hungarian princess by that name. It is perhaps a unique name in period, and is strictly Hungarian. We need evidence of significant contact between Hungary and France to register this name.

Based on this information, the submitted name combines either Polish and French or Hungarian and French in a name. Regardless, neither combination has previously been addressed. As no evidence of significant contact was provided and none was found, this name must be returned for lack of documenation of this lingual mix.

Regarding the submitted byname, the form la Roux is not grammatically correct. Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/paris.html) lists the masculine byname form le Rous (Lyon le Rous) and the feminine byname form la rousse (Aalis la rousse), both meaning 'the red'. Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/bordeaux.htm) shows an inherited surname form: Leroux. Kingdom provided information from consultation with the submitter:

[The] submitter will accept no changes to the given name, and for the byname will only accept de la Roux or la Roux or la Rous.

No evidence was found to support de 'of' used with any form of a byname la Rousse 'the red'. The byname forms la Roux and la Rous combine the feminine la with Roux and Rous, both of which are masculine. As none of these byname forms are grammatically correct, they are not registerable. [Kinga la Roux, 12/2003, R-Artemisia]

François la Flamme 2003.11 As submitted, Beorn was documented as Old English and Boghener as German, a mix that has previously been ruled unregisterable due to a lack of evidence of significant contact between speakers of these languages (for a recent discussion of this issue, see Leofric von der Ertheneburg, October 2003 LoAR, Drachenwald's returns).

However, Beorn is also a Swedish name dated to 1200 in Sveriges medeltida personnamn (s.n. Biorn). That form is registerable with a German byname, as there is a weirdness for the lingual combination of Swedish and German in a name, but none for temporal disparity. [Beorn Boghener, 11/2003, A-Meridies]

François la Flamme 2003.11 This name combines a Norse given name with a German byname. There is a weirdness for the lingual combination, but it is registerable. There was considerable contact between Germany and Denmark, including Danish kings controlling the adjoining parts of modern Germany in the 12th and 13th century.

The submitter requested the German form of Sigurd if one could be found. Bahlow documents several names with the first element Sieg-, but not this name. They include the sound-alike Sighart dated to 1295. However, as it is not the same name, we declined to make that change. [Sigurd Grunewald, 11/2003, A-Meridies]

François la Flamme 2003.10 Submitted as Cináed MacFie, this name combined the Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) given name Cináed with MacFie, which was documented as an undated byname in Scots (a language closely related to English).

No support was found for the submitter's desired form MacFie as a period form. Aryanhwy merch Catmael found dated forms of this byname in Black:

The dated forms of the byname with two syllables that Black has are <mcphe> 1531, <McFee> 1541, <McFeye> 1585. Unfortunately, this doesn't support <McFie>.

Based on these examples, MacFee is the closest supportable spelling to the submitted MacFie. We have changed the byname to this form in order to register this name.

As submitted, this name had one weirdness for combining Gaelic and Scots in a name. There was also a weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years, since the given name dates to pre-1200 and the submitted form of the byname is only documented post-period. We have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Cionaodh in order to remove the temporal disparity from this name. Thereby, having only the single weirdness for the lingual combination of Gaelic and Scots, this name is registerable. [Cionaodh MacFee, 10/2003, A-Atenveldt]

François la Flamme 2003.10 Listed on the LoI as Cineád O'  Hosey, this name was submitted as Cináed O' Hosey and two letters were transposed in the given name on the LoI. The submitted documentation supported the byname form O'Hosey rather than O' Hosey. We have made this change.

As submitted, this name combined the Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) Cineád with the Anglicized Irish byname O'Hosey, which was dated to the mid-16th C to the early 17th C. This name had one weirdness for combining Gaelic and Anglicized Irish in a name. There was a second weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years since the given name dates to pre-1200 and the byname dates to mid-16th C to early 17th C. We have changed the given name to the Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Cionaodh in order to remove the temporal disparity and register this name. [Cionaodh O'Hosey, 10/2003, A-Ansteorra]

François la Flamme 2003.10 Listed on the LoI as Pedrog Sylvrbeard, this name was submitted as Pedrog ap Sylvrbeard and was changed at Kingdom because the submitted byname combined the Welsh ap and the English Sylvrbeard in a single name phrase and, so, violated RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency within a name phrase. The submitter requested authenticity for 10th C "Welch/Norse [sic]" and allowed any changes.

Sylvrbeard was submitted as a constructed English byname. However, no support was provided for either the spelling Sylvr- or -beard in period. All of the period examples of bynames including forms of the elements 'silver' and 'beard' found by the College had the 'silver' element spelled as Silver- or Sylver- and the 'beard' element spelled as -berd. Lacking evidence that Sylvrbeard is a plausible form in period, we have changed the byname to the form Sylverberd in order to register this name.

The submitter requested authenticity for 10th C "Welch/Norse". Lacking evidence that any of these elements are authentic for the 10th C in either Welsh or Old Norse, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and languages.

Additionally, support for a name mixing Welsh and Norse was not provided. As this issue was not addressed in this submission, we are declining to rule on the registerability of a name including Welsh and Norse elements at this time. Since the submitted name combines Welsh and English, which has been ruled on previously, we are registering this name as a mix of Welsh and English. [Pedrog Sylverberd, 10/2003, A-Ansteorra] [Pedrog Sylverberd, 10/2003, A-An Tir]

François la Flamme 2003.09 This name is being returned for combining German and Welsh in a single name which has previously been ruled reason for return (Anton Cwith, August 2001) barring evidence of significant contact between these two cultures. The name Alaric was documented from Withycombe (p. 4 s.n. Alaric). However, this entry gives no indication that the name Alaric was used in English in period. The only period information regarding this name provided by Withycombe is the statement that Alaric was "the name of several kings of the West Goths, notably Alaric I who sacked Rome in A.D. 410." This statement only supports Alaric as an early Germanic name. Lacking evidence that the name Alaric was used in a language whose speakers had significant contact with Welsh speakers, this name is not registerable. [Alaric Morganygg, 09/2003 LoAR, R-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2003.09 Submitted as Tukka Kirk, there were issues with the documentation for Tukka and with the combination of languages in this name.

The given name Tukka was documented from Reaney & Wilson (p. 456 s.n. Tuck). However, this entry gives no dated examples of Tukka. Instead, this entry states, "... the frequent occurrence of the personal name in the 12th and 13th centuries suggests that we have an Anglo-Scand. *Tukka, a pet-form of ON Þorketil." None of the dated forms listed in this entry end in an a. Metron Ariston explains the notation in this entry, "[T]he discussion in the location cited in Reaney and Wilson [s.n. Tuck] presumes an unattested Tukka derived from the Old Norse. (The asterisk is a dead giveaway!)"

Adding to the uncertainty of the form Tukka theorized by Reaney & Wilson is the information in Bardsley (s.n. Tuck), which cites Toka from a Latin entry in the Domesday Book: "'liber homo Stigandi Toka Francigine' (?Toka the Frenchman)".

Based on this information, Tukka is, at best, an unattested Old English name formed as a diminutive of an Old Norse name. The byname Kirk was documented as appropriate for 15th to 16th C Scots (a language closely related to English). Combining Old English and Scots in a name has been previously been ruled to be reason for return (Dunno Jamesson, LoAR of March 2002).

Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Tuck) date Tukke faber to 1101-7. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the given name to the Middle English Tukke in order to register this name. The submitter may wish to know that, since a final e is not silent in Middle English, the form Tukke would be pronounced approximately "TUH-keh" - fairly similar to a modern pronunciation of Tukka. [Tukke Kirk, 09/2003, A-Ansteorra]

François la Flamme 2003.09 The submitter requested authenticity for 12th C French/Welsh, requested changes for the meaning 'Chiere, wife of Maredudd', and allowed minor changes.

In most cases, an authentic name in period that combined elements from two languages (in this case, French and Welsh) would be recorded all in one language or all in the other language depending upon the language in which the name was recorded.

Clarion provided information regarding Welsh names that appeared in France:

The article "Welsh Names in France in the Late 14th Century" [KWHS Proceedings, 1994] looks at Welsh names in French contexts. In that context names were as the above article indicates that in a French context they "Frenchified" the Welsh names. Thus if the "wife of X" pattern is used in French names (and I do not know if it is), then Chiere <wife of> Mereduc would be a reasonable French name of a woman married to a Welshman and living in France. Mereduc is one of the forms found in the above article.

In a Welsh context, the given name would probably be converted to either a Welsh or English form. I am not certain what that would be.

Hercule Geraud, Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'aprés des documents originaux et notamment d'aprés un manuscript contenant Le R�le de la taille imposée sur les habitants de Paris en 1292 lists a number of entries that use fame to mean 'wife of', including Ameline, fame Phelipe, de Pontaise (p. 7, column 1).

Based on this information, a fully French form of this name, appropriate for the late 14th C, would be Chiere fame Mereduc. Lacking information regarding how the French feminine given name Chiere would be recorded in Welsh, we are unable to suggest a fully Welsh form of this name.

Lacking evidence of significant contact between French speakers and Welsh speakers in the 12th C, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time period. As the submitter only allows minor changes, and changing the language of a name phrase is a major change, we were unable to change this name to the fully French form Chiere fame Mereduc in order to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity. [Chiere wreic Maredudd, 09/2003, A-Trimaris]

François la Flamme 2003.08 This name combines an Anglicized Irish feminine given name with a Romany placename. However, no evidence was provided showing that Anglicized Irish and Romany were spoken in the same location in the same time period. Lacking such evidence, this lingual mix is not registerable as it does not meet RfS III.1, which states in part "As a rule of thumb, languages should be used together only if there was substantial contact between the cultures that spoke those languages [...] Each name as a whole should be compatible with the culture of a single time and place." Lacking evidence that Anglicized Irish speakers and Romany speakers had substantial contact in period, this combination is not registerable. [...] [Ena Weshen-eskey gav, 08/2003 LoAR, R-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2003.08 The College only found one example of the name Auguste dated close to period. Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "French Names from 1601" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french1601.html) lists the name August as appearing once, and the form Auguste as appearing once, in the source document. The College was unable to find any evidence that this name was used in France earlier than this time.

Therefore, this name combines a French given name dated to 1601 with an Old Norse byname. As Valason is documented from Old Norse sources that record names used before approximately 1100, this name has one weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years.

This submission did not provide information regarding the level of contact between French speakers and Old Norse speakers. Depending upon the level of contact between speakers of these languages, combining French and Old Norse in a name is either a weirdness or not registerable. Either status, when combined with the temporal disparity, is cause for return in this name. Therefore, we are declining to rule on whether the combination of French and Old Norse in a name is a weirdness or unregisterable at this time. We would ask the College to consider this issue, that they may offer advice if this combination is submitted in the future. [Auguste Valason, 08/2003 LoAR, R-Ealdormere]

François la Flamme 2003.08 This submission combines an Old Norse given name with a Middle High German locative byname. Old Norse was still in use in 1100. It is generally agreed that Middle High German came into use before 1100. Therefore, Old Norse and Middle High German were in use at the same time. Given this information, combining Old Norse and Middle High German in a name is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Tyrfingr von Wolfsberg, 08/2003 LoAR, A-Outlands]
François la Flamme 2003.08 The documentation provided for this name on the LoI was:

The Book of Indian Names by Raja Ram Mehotra is the source of the following information, none of which is dated: p.7 At-tar is a Kashmiri family name based on the Persian or Urdu equivalent of the traditional occupation of herbalist cum scent dealer. p.110 Indira is one of the personal names attached to the goddess Lakshmi. p.67 -bai is a female suffix attached to the given name among the Parsis.

This information does not support the use of -bai in period or that a women's name in period would have been taken from the name of goddess. Lacking such evidence, Indirabai is not registerable. Lacking evidence that Indira was used in period as a regular woman's name, it is not registerable.

The College found information regarding the submitted byname At-tar:

'attar is an Arabic word for "perfumer". It appears at least as early as the 13th Century in the name of a man we know only as ibn al-'Attar, who composed popular stories in the late 9th or early 10th Century. (Dodge, Fihrist of al-Nadim, vol. 2, p. 966) The transliteration of the submitted form looks "odd" to me; I suspect (without being able to prove it) that it is modern at best. [al-Jamal]

The cited <At-tar> is clearly derived from an Arabic occupational byname which can be written without diacritical marks as <al-'Attar> 'the perfume-maker." Arabic bynames were brought into Mughal India in late period, and so ought to be registerable within an Indian name context, with at most a weirdness. [Siren]

Lacking evidence that the form At-tar is a plausible period form, it is not registerable. [Indirabai At-tar, 08/2003 LoAR, R-West]

François la Flamme 2003.07 The elements Juan and Tegero were documented as Spanish. Balthazar was documented as Flemish.

Members of the College provided information regarding the level of contact between these cultures. Specificially:

The Spanish ruled the Low Countries during the 16th century and had large numbers of troops there because of the Dutch revolt. [Nebuly]

The spelling <Balthazar> is not a Spanish spelling (the <th> wasn't and still isn't generally used); <Baltasar> is found in my Isabel article. But the Lowlands were owned by the Hapsburgs, along with Spain, so in the 16th century, there is certainly sufficient contact to justify the mix (with a weirdness). [Siren]

Given this level of contact, combining Spanish and Flemish in an SCA name is registerable, though a weirdness. [Juan Balthazar Tegero, 07/2003 LoAR, A-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2003.07 Rowan was submitted under the Legal Name Allowance as it is the submitter's legal given name. As there is no evidence that Rowan was used as a feminine name in period, it falls into the category of "non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance" and its use carries a weirdness. (For a further explanation, see "From Pelican: A Clarification Regarding the Legal Name Allowance" in the Cover Letter to the February 2003 LoAR.)

Rowan is also SCA compatible as a feminine given name. Use of an SCA-compatible name element carries a weirdness.

So, whether Rowan is viewed as registerable to the submitter via the Legal Name Allowance or as an SCA-compatible name, its use in this name carries one weirdness.

No evidence has yet been found that two given names were used in Ireland. Two given names are registerable in an Anglicized Irish name (just as they are in Scots), but it carries a weirdness.

Therefore, the submitted name has two weirdnesses, which is cause for return. As the submitter allows no changes, we were unable to drop the second given name in order to register this name. [Rowan Katerina O'Flaherty, 07/2003 LoAR, R-Atenveldt]

François la Flamme 2003.06 Submitted as Gustav Zizka, the submitter requested authenticity for 15th C Hussite (German/Czech). Gustav was documented from Withycombe. As previously stated:

Withycombe's strength lies in English. In most cases, when she is referring to names that are not in English, she is referring to modern forms. As such, any undated references in Withycombe to forms of names in other languages ought to have additional support. [Anton Cwith, 08/01, A-Ansteorra]

German sources make it clear that Gustav was borrowed from Swedish; the College was unable to find evidence that it was used as a German given name before 1600. The spellings Gustaf and G�staff are found in Swedish (in Sveriges Medeltida Personnamn, vol. 9 s.n. G�tstaf). We have changed the given name to a form documented to period in order to register this name.

Zizka is documented as a Czech byname. As there was extensive contact between Sweden and Czechoslovakia, including a large number of Swedes studying at the University of Prague, the combination of Swedish and Czech is registerable, though a weirdness. However, lacking evidence that any form of Gustav was used in German or Czech, we could not make this name authentic for Hussites (German/Czech) as requested by the submitter. [Gustaf Zizka, 06/2003 LoAR, A-Trimaris]

François la Flamme 2003.06 Listed on the LoI as Flavia Elena Glamorganshire, this name was submitted as Flavia Elena ab Glamorganshire. [...]

Flavia was documented in the LoI as "the name of a 6th C. female saint, martyred by Moorish corsairs". Upon examining the submitted documentation, it merely states that Flavia was a sister of a saint named Placidus, not that Flavia was a saint herself. Siren found other information regarding Flavia as the name of a saint:

I can find no reference to the <Flavia> mentioned in the LoI. The only <Flavia> in the Catholic Encyclopedia and in Delany's Dictionary of Saints is <Flavia Domitilla>, a first century member of the Imperial family and secret Christian. She seems to have been a minor saint; the Catholic Encyclopedia does not mention her sainthood [though] it gives a biography, but Delaney gives a feast day for her.

As stated in "From Pelican: Regarding the Registerability of Saints' Names", included in the Cover Letter to the September 2001 LoAR, the names of saints are registerable as part of an SCA name, with some restrictions, including:

[T]he form that the saint's name takes in the submitted name is subject to the standard rules and precedents, including those regarding weirdnesses that were set down in the August 1999 cover letter.

Unfortunately for the submitter, mixed Irish / Spanish names are not allowed (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR of July 1997). As Teresa was not used in the British Isles until after our period we have to return this. [Teresa Callan, 04/01, R-Atenveldt]

Teresa was considered a Spanish name in this ruling since Saint Teresa was a 16th C Spanish saint whose cult did not spread to the British Isles until after period. Therefore, as Saint Teresa was not known in Ireland in period, Irish parents could not have named daughters for her and the name had to be considered Spanish in this submission. Since Teresa is the name of a saint, it was registerable. But that registerability did not override the ban on mixing Irish and Spanish.

Some combinations are clearly not likely. Wickenden (3rd ed., p. 304) gives Sadok (a masculine name) as the name of a 4th C Russian saint-martyr. Though Sadok is a saint, no evidence exists that he was known in Westen Europe, so it does not seem reasonable that Welsh parents would know about this saint and choose to name their son after him. So the name Sadok ap Rhys would not be registerable because Russian and Welsh are not a registerable combination.

In this case, Flavia has been documented as a Roman saint. No evidence was provided, and none was found by the College, that an early saint named Flavia was known in the Middle Ages. Just as in the Sadok example above, we have no evidence that a Welsh, or even English, parent would have known of a saint named Flavia. If they did not know of a Saint Flavia, they could not have named a child for her in their language. Lacking references to one of these saints named Flavia in another language (such as Middle English), the name Flavia can only be considered as the (Roman) Latin name of a 1st and/or 6th C woman, and only appropriate for that language and time.

Therefore, the submitted name combines a 1st and/or 6th C Roman Latin given name (Flavia), with a given name documented as both English and Welsh (Elena), and the English name for a Welsh shire (Glamorganshire). Lacking evidence that combining 6th C Roman Latin with Welsh spoken in the Middle Ages is plausible in period, this combination is not registerable. As the submitter allows major changes, we have dropped Flavia in order to register this name. [Elena Glamorgan, 06/2003 LoAR, A-Atenveldt]

François la Flamme 2003.05 This name combines two English given names with a Scots byname. As there is no weirdness for use of two given names in English, this name only has one weirdness, for combining English and Scots, and so is registerable. [Rachael Catherine McLellan, 05/2003 LoAR, A-Ealdormere]
François la Flamme 2003.05 Submitted as Ryan De Caergybi, the submitter requested authenticity for 14th C English and allowed minor changes.

There was some question regarding the registerability of the name Ryan. Both Ryan and Rian are plausible Anglicized Irish forms of the Gaelic masculine given name Ríán, which was the name of a saint (per � Corráin & Maguire, p. 155 s.n. Ríán). Therefore, Ryan and Rian are registerable as Anglicized Irish forms of this saint's name under the guidelines for registerability of saints' names (see the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR for details).

The byname was submitted as De Caergybi. However, the submitted documenation supports de Caergybi. We have made this correction.

There was some question whether the combination of Anglicized Irish and Welsh is registerable. Anglicized Irish, like Scots, is structurally similar to English. Therefore, as with Scots and Welsh (Anton Cwith, LoAR of August 2001, Ansteorra's acceptances), combining Anglicized Irish and Welsh in a name is registerable, though a weirdness. Mixed Gaelic/Welsh names remain unregisterable. [Ryan de Caergybi, 05/2003 LoAR, A-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2003.04 This name is being returned for combining a Welsh given name with a Hungarian descriptive byname. al-Jamal addressed the documentation for Welsh-Hungarian contact provided in the LoI:

The closest to real documentation for a combination Welsh/Hungarian name that the LoI comes is a statement about the plausibility of an assumption "that there was, at least one, Welshman who went on Crusade to Jerusalem amongst the plethora of English" or "that there was, at least one, Welshman who went on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land ... most likely via Hungary", and alluding to the presence of the Benedictine Order in both the British Isles and in Hungary (without taking into consideration at all the likely or even possible nationality of its members). RfS III.1. states that: "As a rule of thumb, languages should be used together only if there was substantial contact between the cultures that spoke those languages...." (Emphasis added) Assumptions, even without arguing their plausibility, are not evidence of "substantial contact".

Lacking evidence that Welsh and Hungarian cultures had substantial contact, this name is not registerable. [Aneirin Nevetség(es), 04/2003 LoAR, R-Trimaris]

François la Flamme 2003.03 The submitter requested authenticity for Romania and allowed minor changes. Vladimir was documented as Russian. While both Vlad and Vladislav were found in Aryanhwy merch Catmael's article "Names from the Royal Lines of Moldavia and Wallachia" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/romanian.html), the College was unable to find examples of Vladimir used in Romanian in period. As the submitter only allows minor changes, we were unable to change Vladimir to one of the Romanian forms found in Aryanhwy's article in order to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested culture.

At this time, it seems reasonable to for a name using both Russian and Romanian elements to be registerable. However, no one has presented evidence to support sufficient contact between these two cultures to make such a mix registerable without a weirdness. Therefore, a name mixing Russian and Romanian is registerable, but carries a weirdness. [Vladimir Musat, 03/2003, A-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2003.02 Submitted as Eadric Longfellow, the submitter requested authenticity for an unspecified language/culture (presumably English based on the documentation) and allowed any changes. As submitted, this name combines an Old English given name with a Middle English byname dated only to 1475 and later.

Combining Old English and Middle English in a single name is a weirdness because of the dramatic linguistic and orthographic differences between the two languages. A modern English speaker can usually read unmodernized versions of plays by Shakespeare with few difficulties. Many can read unmodernized versions of works by Chaucer, though with more difficulty. If you hand them a copy of Beowulf that is not modernized (or translated), very few will be able to make heads or tails of it. These differences are the basis for the weirdness for using Old English and Middle English in the same name.

The weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years is a different issue from the lingual mix of Old English and Middle English. As explained recently:

Not only did languages change over time, the pool of names that were in use changed over time as well. Therefore, when one element in a name is only dated early and another is only dated late, it is unlikely that these two elements would have been appeared in the same name. The greater the temporal disparity, the less likely these name elements would have appeared together. RfS III.1 states in part that "Each name as a whole should be compatible with the culture of a single time and place." Currently, there is no weirdness for elements that are dated within 300 years of one another, but there is a weirdness for elements dated between 300 and 1000 years apart. Elements that are dated more than 1000 years apart are not registerable, due to the significant temporal disparity. [Sáerlaith an Einigh, November 2002 LoAR, A-Æthelmearc]

Therefore, the submitted form of this name had two weirdnesses; one for the lingual mix of Old English and Middle English, and a second for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years. As the submitter indicated that the sound of the name was most important to him, we have changed the given name to the form Edric, which is dated to the 13th C in Talan Gwynek's article "Men's Given Names from Early 13th Century England" (http://www.s_gabriel.org/names/talan/eng13/eng13m.html), to change this name to a completely Middle English form in order to register this name. [Edric Longfellow, 02/2003 LoAR, A-Atenveldt]

François la Flamme 2003.02 Submitted as Fiachrae the Bonesetter, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th to 14th C Ireland. As submitted, this name combined the Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) masculine given name Fiachrae with an English byname. Additionally, the term bonesetter was dated to c. 1510 as an English word. In the spelling boone setter, it was dated to c. 1470. Therefore, the submitted form of this name had two weirdnesses: one for combining Gaelic and English in a name, and a second for elements whose forms are dated more than 300 years apart. To remove the weirdness for temporal disparity in order to register this name, and to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity, we have changed the given name to the Early Modern Irish (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form Fiachra. Lacking evidence that the Bonesetter would have been used as occupational byname for a Gael in Ireland, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's requested time and culture. [Fiachra the Bonesetter, 02/2003 LoAR, A-Æthelmearc]
François la Flamme 2003.02 Submitted as Iain MacPhilip, this name had two weirdnesses, which has been reason for return. There was one weirdness for use of an SCA-compatible name (Iain). There was also a weirdness for combining Gaelic and Scots (a language closely related to English) in a name. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the Gaelic form Iain to the Scots form Ian in order to render this name a single language. As the form Ian MacPhilip has only a single weirdness for use of the SCA-compatible name Ian, it is registerable. [Ian MacPhilip, 02/2003 LoAR, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2003.02 Submitted as Osa Hrafnsdóttir, the submitted form of this name had two weirdnesses. Osa was documented as a Swedish given name dated to 1406. Hrafnsdóttir is an Old Norse patronymic byname. Combining Swedish and Old Norse in a name has previously been ruled a weirdness (Bjarki Einarson, April 2002). Since Old Norse dates to the 11th C and earlier, this name had a second weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years. We have changed the given name to Asa, the Old Norse form of Osa, in order to register this name. [Asa Hrafnsdóttir, 02/2003 LoAR, A-West]
François la Flamme 2003.02 This name was originally submitted as Bronwyn Rhiannon Mewer. Bronwyn is the submitter's legal given name. The element Rhiannon was dropped at Kingdom because it was felt that "this particular combination of names, one being a legal name variant on an SCA compatible name and the other being a purely SCA compatible name," was not registerable.

As this topic generated a variety of discussion, a clarification is in order. Precedent states:

Beginning with the 5/96 meeting, therefore, use of two individually permissible non-period elements in a single name will be considered two `weirdnesses' and will be grounds for return. Such elements include non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance as well as those names, apparently not used by human beings in period, that have been declared `SCA-compatible', e.g., Briana, Ceridwen (in several variants), Gwendolen/Guendolen, R(h)onwen, and Rowena. (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the January 1996 LoAR, pp. 3-4)

In the case of this name, no evidence has been found that Bronwyn was used as a name in period. Therefore, it falls in the category of a "non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance" (emphasis added) described in the ruling cited above. Therefore, this name has one weirdness for the use of Bronwyn. The addition of Rhiannon would add a second weirdness, as Rhiannon is only registerable as an SCA-compatible name. We have left the name as modified by Kingdom, to avoid having two weirdnesses, in order to register this name. (For a clarification of some details regarding the Legal Name Allowance, please see the Cover Letter.) [Bronwyn Mewer, 02/2003 LoAR, A-An Tir]

François la Flamme 2003.01 Seona is a modern Scottish Gaelic form of Joan. Lacking evidence that it was used in period, it is not registerable. Additionally, this name combined Gaelic and Welsh in the same name, which has previously been reason for return. [Seona ferch Angharad, 01/2003 LoAR, R-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2003.01 The submitter requested authenticity for Polish. The documentation submitted indicates that Wilhelm "is dated to 1423 in the Slownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych [VI: 96]". (This source is often abbreviated as SSNO.) Aryanhwy merch Catmael inquired of several people regarding aspects of this name and SSNO in general. Among the commentary she passed on was information from Talan Gwynek, who explained that "some of the documents cited in SSNO are actually in German and use Germanized forms even of some native Polish names". Given this information, the example of Wilhelm that appears in SSNO may be from a German record of a Polish person. As we were unable to confirm that Wilhelm was actually used as a Polish form of William, we were unable to confirm that this name is authentic for Polish as requested by the submitter. [Wilhelm Michalik, 01/2003 LoAR, A-Middle]
François la Flamme 2003.01 Diana is the name of an ancient Roman goddess. No documentation was presented and none was found that Diana was used as a Roman name except for this goddess. Lacking evidence that it was used as a given name for humans in the Roman period, it is not registerable as a Roman name. The only evidence presented of Diana used by humans in period is from Withycombe (p. 40-41, s.n. Diana), which lists Diana Luttrell as being born in 1580. So we have evidence of Diana as a name used in late 16th C English. Spartene was submitted as the feminine form of the masculine byname Spartenos, which is dated to 1246 in Bardas Xiphias's article "Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/byzantine/family-names.html).

Therefore, the submitted name mixes an English given name dated to 1580 with a Byzantine Greek byname appropriate for 1246. Because these elements are dated more than 300 years apart, this name has a weirdness for temporal disparity. No evidence was presented that England and the Byzantine Empire had significant contact in period. Lacking such evidence, a name mixing English and Byzantine Greek is not registerable.

Were such evidence found, this lingual mix would be a weirdness, and this name would have two weirdnesses, one for temporal disparity and one for the lingual mix. And so, having two weirdnesses, this name would still have to be returned. [Diana Spartene, 01/2003 LoAR, R-Calontir]

François la Flamme 2003.01 Bronwen is a modern Welsh name that is registerable as an SCA-compatible name.

The LoI stated that "an Druaidh is the registered last name of submitter's mundane husband (Conall Mac an Druaidh - 8/1994 Atlantia)". However, Conall's byname is not an Druaidh. The elements an Druaidh are simply part of his byname, which is Mac an Druaidh, 'son of the druid'. Only entire elements of name phrases may be used under the Grandfather Clause. Therefore, since Mac an Druaidh is the grandfathered element, it is not eligible to support a submitted byname inghean an Druaidh 'daughter of the druid'. Since patronymic bynames are literal in Gaelic in period, Mac an Druaidh may not be used as a woman's byname, because she is a daughter, not a son.

This name also combines Welsh and Gaelic in a single name, which has previously been reason for return. [Bronwen inghean an Druaidh, 01/2003 LoAR, R-Atlantia]

François la Flamme 2003.01 This name combines the Hungarian feminine given name Ersebet with an otherwise Italian name. There was considerable discussion regarding the registerability of such a mix. A name including Hungarian and Italian elements has previously been ruled to be registerable:

[Ileana Welgy] While Ileana is not a Hungarian name, it can be found in De Felice's book on Italian given name. Venice controlled extensive territory on the east coast of the Adriatic in late period, sharing a border with Hungary. Since Kázmér includes a number of names apparently derived from Italian, an Italian/Hungarian name is acceptable under our rules. However, it must follow the standard practice of having the given name first. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR August 1998)

The Cover Letter of the August 1999 LoAR includes a discussion entitled "Mixed language names". This discussion describes different levels of contact between cultures. Of these, the level that best fits contact between Italian and Hungarian according to current evidence is:

The second category is when names mixes elements of two cultures that have significant contact, but we have little or no evidence of mixed names, for example, Scots and Italian. The rule III.1 allows such names although the lack of evidence indicates that these mixed names were exceedingly rare at best.

Lingual mixes that fall into the second category, such as Hungarian and Italian, are registerable, though they carry a weirdness. As this is the only weirdness in this name, it is registerable. [Ersebet Francisca Cardinali, 01/2003 LoAR, A-Calontir]

François la Flamme 2002.12 This name is registerable as a combination of Anglicized Irish and 14th C Icelandic, though this combination carries a weirdness. [Davin Steingrimsson, 12/2002, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2002.12 Combining Scots and Danish in a name is registerable, though this combination carries a weirdness. [Krag MacYntier, 12/2002, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2002.12 Given the level of contact between their cultures, a name that includes Persian and Arabic name elements is registerable with a weirdness. [Shirin al-Adawiya, 12/2002, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2002.11 The submitter requested authenticity for Irish and allowed any changes. This name combines the Middle Irish Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form Sáerlaith with an Einigh, which is an Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form. By precedent, combining Middle Irish Gaelic and Early Modern Irish Gaelic carries a weirdness.

There was some question whether this name had an additional weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years, since Sáerlaith was dated only to 969 and an Einigh was dated to 1473.

Not only did languages change over time, the pool of names that were in use changed over time as well. Therefore, when one element in a name is only dated early and another is only dated late, it is unlikely that these two elements would have been appeared in the same name. The greater the temporal disparity, the less likely these name elements would have appeared together. RfS III.1 states in part that "Each name as a whole should be compatible with the culture of a single time and place." Currently, there is no weirdness for elements that are dated within 300 years of one another, but there is a weirdness for elements dated between 300 and 1000 years apart. Elements that are dated more than 1000 years apart are not registerable, due to the significant temporal disparity.

In this case, the earliest example found as yet of an Einigh as a descriptive byname appears in the "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 3, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005C/), entry M1338.1, which lists "Ruaidhri an Einigh Mag Uidhir" (the underlined e represents a "long-e" character in Gaelic). This brings the temporal disparity between these two elements down to 369 years. However, the word enigh meaning 'hospitality' was used to describe people earlier. An example is found in the "Annals of the Four Masters", vol. 2, (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005B/), entry M1162.18, which reads in part "Maol Sechlainn, mac Tighernáin Uí Ruairc, ríogh-dhamhna Bréifne, caindel gaisccidh, & enigh Leithe Chuinn". The translation given for this text at the same website is "Maelseachlainn, son of Tighearnan Ua Ruairc, royal heir of Breifne, lamp of the chivalry and hospitality of Leath-Chuinn". As this entry shows enigh to be a term used to describe people within 300 years of the date for Sáerlaith, this name does not have a second weirdness for temporal disparity.

Lacking evidence that a form of Sáerlaith was still in use when an Einigh became used as a descriptive byname, we were unable to make this name authentic. [Sáerlaith an Einigh, 11/2002, A-Æthelmearc]

François la Flamme 2002.11 Bronwen was upheld as SCA compatible in the Cover Letter for the December 1995 LoAR. Since F. K. & S. Hitching, References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602 (p. xlv), date Frasier to 1602, this name may be viewed as a mix of an SCA compatible Welsh given name and an English surname. Therefore, this name has a weirdness for use of an SCA compatible element. Since mixing Welsh and English in a single name carries no weirdness, this name does not have a second weirdness and is registerable. [Bronwen Fraser, 11/2002, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2002.10 Submitted as Gorm Bola, the submitter requested authenticity for early Norse/Russian. There was sufficient contact between the Norse and Russia to make a name mixing these languages registerable, though it is a weirdness. In period, a name combining elements from these languages would have been written all in Norse or all in Russian depending upon the language of the document in which the name was recorded. Lacking a Russian form of Gorm or a Norse form of Bola, we were unable to suggest authentic forms of this name. [Gorm Bolin, 10/2002, A-Middle]
François la Flamme 2002.10 As submitted, this name had two weirdnesses: one for combining Gaelic and Anglicized Irish forms in a name, and another for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years between the name elements. As the submitter allows any changes, we have changed the byname to an Early Modern Gaelic form in order to remove the lingual mix and register this name. An authentic form of this name would be Muirenn ingen hui Rodáin. It would be appropriate for approximately the 7th through 10th C. [Muireann inghean uí Rodáin, 10/2002, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2002.10 Rhiannon was ruled SCA-compatible in the cover letter for the October 1985 LoAR. Mixing English and Welsh in a name carries no weirdness. Therefore, this name is registerable with only one weirdness for use of an SCA compatible element (in this case, Rhiannon). [Rhiannon Boyle, 10/2002, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2002.09 This name has two weirdnesses. There is one weirdness for use of an element (in this case Corwyn) that is only SCA compatible. Corwyn is a variant of Corwin, which is an English surname that is SCA compatible as a given name. There is a second weirdness for combining English and Scots in a name (per the ruling for Katrina Rosehearty in the LoAR of September 2001). [Corwyn MacCamie, 09/2002 LoAR, R-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2002.09 Basecg was only documented from Savage's The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, which is a modern translation. Metron Ariston found information regarding this name:

The given name usually appears in the Chronicles as Bagsecg o[r] Bachsecg and the only exemplar I could find was the Norse prince killed at the Battle of Ashdown in 871.

So Bagsecg and Bachsecg are Old English forms of the name of a Norse prince who died in 871. This submission combines this given name with the byname von Basel, which is Middle High German. Lacking evidence that mixing Old English and Middle High German is plausible in a single name, this combination is not registerable. As the submitter indicated that sound was most important, he may be interested in the option found by Hund:

Balhow under B�secke has the Beseke (=Basilius) von der gartow from 1342 another 14th century citation of which is Baseke, Brechenmacher also has "von Basel" as submitted from 1360, thus a fully documented German 14th century name would be Baseke von Basel.

As the submitter only allowed minor changes, we were unable to change this name to the German form suggested by Hund in order to register this name. [Basecg von Basel, 09/2002 LoAR, A-An Tir]

François la Flamme 2002.09 This name combines Anglicized Irish and Old Norse in a single name, which has been ruled unregisterable:

The submitted name is a combination of an Anglicized Irish given name and an Old Norse byname. Mixing Scots and Old Norse in a name has been ruled unregisterable:

The combination of an Old Norse given name and an Anglicized Scots patronymic had too severe a temporal disparity. We have therefore changed the spelling of the given name to medieval Norwegian. [Ulvar MacVanis, A-Lochac, LoAR 07/2000]

Anglicized Irish and Scots existed in similar time period. Therefore, just as a mix of Scots and Old Norse is not registerable, a mix of Anglicized Irish and Old Norse is not registerable. [Davin Steingrimsson, R-An Tir, LoAR 01/2002]

Additionally, the byname 6zveginn is incorrect. Geirr Bassi (p. 26) lists this byname as ó�veginn - with the initial character being an accented o, not the number 6, and the second character being a thorn, not a z. [Turlough 6zveginn, 09/2002 LoAR, R-Meridies]

François la Flamme 2002.09 Submitted as Agnieszka the Wanderer, the submitter requested authenticity for 13th C Polish. Nebuly found information about period forms of this name:

The submitted spelling Agnieszka is the standard modern spelling for that name in Polish. It is my experience working with the SSNO that soft consonants were not indicated in period spellings (there wouldn't be an i after n in the name), and this is supported by the spellings in the SSNO: Agnesca, Agneschka, Agneszka. Since the client asks for a 13th century name, I'd recommend changing the given name to Agneszka.

The byname the Wanderer is ruled SCA-compatible, and there is a period Polish equivalent. The Polish for "wanderer" is w�ndrownik, which appears under that heading in the SSNO in the name Stanek Wandrownyk, dated 1397.

The name is registerable as submitted, but if the client would likea fully authentic Polish name, the period feminine equivalent would be Agneszka Wandrownyka.

We have changed the given name to the form recommended by Nebuly in order to register this name and to partially meet the submitter's request for authenticity. As she only allowed minor changes, and changing the language of the byname from the English the Wanderer to the Polish Wandrownyka is a major change, we were unable to change the name to the completely Polish form recommended by Nebuly. The byname the Wanderer is a Lingua Anglica translation of the Polish byname found by Nebuly and therefore does not count as a weirdness. [Agneszka the Wanderer, 09/2002 LoAR, A-Meridies]

François la Flamme 2002.08 Submitted as Ælfric gyl�ir, the submitter requested authenticity for 11th C Norse. As submitted, this name combined an Anglo-Saxon given name with an Old Norse byname. Given the amount of contact, a name mixing Old English and Old Norse is registerable with a weirdness. Regarding authenticity, though, in period this name would have been written all in Old English or all in Old Norse depending upon the language of the document. Argent Snail found an Old Norse form of the given name:

Danmarks Gamle Personnavne: Fornavne, under Alfrik, date Alfric to 1047-75. So the form Alfric gy�ir would be a reasonably Norse form, and very close to what was submitted.

We have changed the given name to the form documented by Argent Snail to meet the submitter's request for authenticity. [Alfric gyl�ir, 08/2002, A-Meridies]

François la Flamme 2002.08 This name combines an Italian given name with an SCA compatible English byname. Combining an Italian given name and an English byname in the same name is registerable, though it is a weirdness. However, this name contains a second weirdness for use of an SCA compatible element (the Traveler). As the name has two weirdness, it is not registerable. [Nuzzio the Traveler, 08/2002, R-Meridies]
François la Flamme 2002.08 Submitted as Ilaria Jacqueline  Montrevel, the submitter requested an authentic French/Italian border name and allowed any changes. She noted that if the double given name was not registerable, then she preferred to drop Jacqueline and keep Ilaria.

In period, a name mixing Italian and French elements would have been written all in Italian or all in French depending upon whether the document that included the name was written in Italian or French. Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/paris.html) lists Dame Ylaire la lingière and Dame Jaqueline la Bordonne. Argent Snail found other period forms of portions of this name:

Jacqueline is found in Morlet Picarde [Marie-Thérèse Morlet, Étude d'Anthroponymie Picarde]. While she does not explicitly date it, all of the names in the book are from the 13th through 15th centuries. Dauzat and Rostaing, under Mons, have Montrevel, with the form Montrivel dated to 1198.

From this information, an authentic French form of this name would be Ylaire Jaqueline de Montrivel or Ylaire Jacqueline de Montrivel. As we were unable to find forms of Jacqueline or Montrevel in Italian, we were unable to determine an authentic Italian form of this name. We have changed this name to the second of the French forms listed above to meet the submitter's request for authenticity.

As submitted, this name contains an Italian given name, a French given name, and a French locative byname. Since mixing French and Italian in a single name is only one weirdness, Ilaria Jacqueline de Montrivel would be a registerable, though not authentic, form of this name that would be close to the originally submitted form. [Ylaire Jacqueline de Montrivel, 08/2002, A-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2002.08 This name combines a Welsh name dated to the 5th to 9th C with a Scots byname dated to 1590. Therefore, this name has two weirdnesses (one for mixing Welsh and Scots, and one for a temporal disparity of more than 300 years), which is cause for return.

The LoI noted that the submitter originally wanted Ryon as a given name, but could not document that spelling. Given that information, the submitter may want to consider the Irish Gaelic given name Rian. Ó Corráin & Maguire (p. 155 s.n. Ríán) which lists a saint of this name and notes that the modern surname Ó Riain (O Ryan) derives from this name. Rian is an Early Modern Irish Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form of this given name and would be registerable under the guidelines for the registerability of saints' names given in the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR. Therefore, Rian McHenrik would have a single weirdness for mixing Gaelic and Scots in a name, but would not have the temporal disparity that exists in the name Rhain McHenrik. As the submitter did not allow major changes, we were unable to make this change in order to register this name. [Rhain McHenrik, 08/2002, R-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2002.08 There was some discussion of possible temporal incompatibility in this name as the submitted documentation dated Aidan to c608 and Cambel to 1296. Aidan is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic masculine given name Áedán. Ó Corráin & Maguire (pp. 13-14 s.n. Áedán) say that this was the name of some "twenty-one saints". Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (pp. 8-9 s.n. Aidan), identifies one of these saints and gives his death date as 651. Therefore, Aidan is registerable as an Anglicized form of this saint's name under the guidelines for registerability of saints' names (see the Cover Letter for the September 2001 LoAR for more details). An Anglicized form of this saint's name is reasonable for the time period of the byname. Therefore, as both elements are Anglicized and use of a saint's name carries no weirdness in and of itself, this name is registerable with no weirdnesses. [Aidan Cambel, 08/2002, A-Meridies]
François la Flamme 2002.08 This name combines an Irish Gaelic given name dated from the 8th to 11th C with an Old English byname. Olof von Feilitzen, The pre-Conquest Personal names of the Domesday Book [sic], p. 30, says of Irish names that appear in the Domesday book:

The Irish names, which were introduced in the 10th and 11th centuries by celticized Norwegians from Ireland and the Isle of Man, are with very few exceptions (Ch, L; Sa?) not found outside of Yorkshire.

Some of the given names in the Domesday Book that he identifies as referring to Irish names are: Fyach (p. 251 s.n. Fíacc), Gilemicel and Ghilemicel (p. 261 s.n. Gillemicel), Gilepatric and Ghilepatric (p. 261 Gillepatric), and Melmidoc (p. 323 s.n. Maelmaedhog). It is important to note that these forms are not Gaelic spellings, but Old English renderings of Gaelic names. Given these examples, mixing Gaelic and Old English in a name is registerable, though there is a weirdness for mixing the orthographies of Old English and Gaelic. [Eithne of Cantwaraburg, 08/2002, A-East]

François la Flamme 2002.08 Submitted as Derek of Connemara, the submitter requested authenticity for 10th C Flemish/Irish. The language of the Low Countries in this time period was Old Low Franconian (Old Dutch). The language of Ireland in this time period was Middle Irish Gaelic. Lacking evidence that these cultures had significant contact, a name mixing these languages is not registerable. Withycombe (p. 82 s.n. Derek) dates Deryk to the 15th C and Derric to 1605 as English. Therefore, Deryk of Connemara and Derric of Connemara are registerable forms of this name. We have changed this name to the first of these options as it is the closer to the submitted form. [Deryk of Connemara, 08/2002, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2002.08 Submitted as Ságadís Duncansdaughter, documentation was provided supporting the construction of Norse feminine given names formed by combining the name of a Norse goddess with the deuterotheme -dis. The LoI provided documentation for Sága as the name of a Norse goddess:

Sága is the name of a Norse Goddess, and was probably used in a period farm name, spelled Saagho- or Saghones. While these are not given names, but rather household names, this shows the use of Sága in a period name. That Sága was a name of a Goddess is confirmed by Kvaran and Jónsson in Nöfn Íslendinga where they say that Sága was the name of one of the Ás (Norse Gods).

Documentation was also provided demonstrating the survival of this type of name in Swedish and Danish in the 14th through 17th C. Therefore, Ságadís is plausible as an Old Norse feminine given name that was also used later in Swedish and Danish. Black (p. 412 s.n. Lambie) dates Mariora Lammeis dothyr to 1527, which supports a byname using a form of daughter in Scots. We have changed the byname to follow this example. Mixing Swedish or Danish with Scots in a name is registerable with a weirdness. [Ságadís Duncans dothyr, 08/2002, A-Drachenwald]

François la Flamme 2002.08 The submitter requested authenticity for 6th C Frankish. Lothar is listed in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Masculine & Feminine Names from the Merovingian Line c.400-c.600 AD" (http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~sfriedemann/names/merovence.htm). This shows the given name as 5th to 7th C Frankish. Socin (p. 314) dates Bertoldus de Koln to 1280 and the byname von Koln to 1297. This shows the byname as 13th C Middle High German. The Frankish and Middle High German languages were not in use at the same time. Therefore, just as in the case of Old Norse and Scots, since the two languages in question would not have been used at the same time, these two languages are not registerable in a single name. However, Morlet, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VI au XII Siècle (vol. I, p. 133, col. a), dates Lotharius to a. 1122. This shows Lotharius used in 12th C France (likely in a Latin context). Given this example, Lothar is a reasonable vernacular form and this name is registerable with one weirdness for mixing French and German. Though the city of Koln existed in the submitter's desired time, we were not able to find a form of the byname appropriate for the submitter's desired time and culture, and so we were not able to make this name authentic per his request. [Lothar von Koln, 08/2002, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2002.07 Submitted as Sigulf Bjornsson, the Old Norse form of a patronymic byname formed from the given name Bjorn is Bjarnarson. Mention was made in commentary of a precedent ruling Bjornsson to be a valid patronymic formed from Bjorn. The precedent in question is:

In October, 1988 ... Laurel stated "we would dearly like to see some clear period documentation for the genitive form of "Bjorns", but have not thus far been presented with any. [Some] have responded to this challenge ... in providing period examples from Sveriges Medeltida Personnama (col. 318-326, 343-346). This compilation of period personal names from Swedish sources contains dates for each documented form. This tome documents such period genitive forms as "Biornar", "Biorns", and "Byorns", showing the precise sort of alternations of form for which Laurel had asked ("Biorns" is shown as early as 1360). The feminine patronymic form is demonstrated from the fourteenth century as well ("Marghet Bjronsdotter" from 1368, "Cecilia Biornsdoter" from 1377, etc.). (LoAR 26 Feb 89, p. 9)

This information supports Bjornsson as a 14th C Swedish byname, not as an Old Norse byname. While mixing Old English and Old Norse in a name is registerable with a weirdness, mixing Old English and Swedish in a name is not registerable. We have changed the byname to the Old Norse form in order to register this name. [Sigulf Bjarnarson, 07/2002, A-Meridies]

François la Flamme 2002.07 As submitted, this name had two weirdnesses. Ulf was documented as an Anglo-Saxon given name dated to 960 and 1080. The byname de Frisbois was documented as a French byname dating to c. 1420-1459. Therefore, this name had one weirdness for a lingual mix of Old English and French, and a second weirdness for a temporal disparity of greater than 300 years but less than 1000 years. Argent Snail provided alternate documentation for the given name:

Ulf is found in Lind, under Úlfr, spelled Ulf (as submitted) dated to 1337. It is also found in Danmarks Gamle Personnavne: Fornavne, under Ulf, has the submitted spelling with assorted dates including numerous 12th century citations, and citations from the 13th century, 1379, and 1498. There was certainly regular contact in period between Scandinavia and France. Therefore, this name should have at most, one weirdness for the names coming from different cultures. And, in fact, Gillian Fellows Jensen's Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, under Ulfr, date the spelling Ulf with assorted 13th century dates, including 1285. There was lots and lots and lots of contact between England and France in our period.

This documentation removes the weirdness for temporal disparity. Additionally, if Ulf is considered as an English name under the Fellows Jensen example from 1285, the lingual weirdness is removed as mixing English and French in a name does not carry a weirdness. [Ulf de Fribois, 07/2002, A-Drachenwald]

François la Flamme 2002.07 A name mixing Swedish and English is registerable with a weirdness. [Brita Hughes, 07/2002, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2002.07 The submitter requested authenticity for 12th C English. The byname Ravenskeep was undocumented in the LoI except for noting its registration as a household name, which the submitter cannot claim under the Grandfather Clause. The element -keep was upheld as SCA compatible in the LoAR of November 2001:

Keep has long been used as part of SCA branch names. The most recent registration is Crossrode Keep, Shire of (registered November 1999 via Ansteorra). This element is effectively regarded as SCA compatible as an element in an English place name. Given the forms in which it has been registered, spellings of the element Keep are registerable both as a separate element (such as Crossrode Keep), and as the final element in a compound place name (such as Northkeep). [Tristan Ravencrest, Æthelmearc-A, LoAR 11/2001]

The College found evidence of English placenames that include Ravens- as a protheme, making Ravenkeep a registerable placename, with one weirdness for use of an SCA compatible element (-keep). [Michael of Ravenskeep, 07/2002, A-Outlands]

François la Flamme 2002.07 This name combines the Irish Gaelic Tiarnán with the Italian del Sarto. Mixing Anglicized Irish and Italian in a single name was ruled unregisterable in April 2000. As mixing Irish Gaelic and Italian in a single name is less likely than mixing Anglicized Irish and Italian, this combination is similarly unregisterable. [Tiarnán del Sarto, 07/2002, R-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2002.06 From Pelican: Some Issues Regarding the Lingua Anglica Allowance

In the November 2001 Cover Letter, I called for comments regarding aspects of the Lingua Anglica Allowance. Specifically at issue were:

  • Should there be a weirdness for use of the Lingua Anglica allowance?

  • Should Lingua Anglica elements be viewed as English name elements or elements of their native language/culture? For example, would William of Saxony be viewed as an all-English name or a mix of English and German? Similarly, would Wilhelm of Saxony be viewed as a mix of German and English or as an all-German name?

  • Should the Lingua Anglica allowance permit the mixing of name elements from languages/cultures that are not otherwise registerable in a name? For example, barring evidence of significant contact in period, mixing German and Welsh in a name is not currently registerable. Would Rhys of Saxony be viewed as mixing Welsh and English? Or would it be viewed as mixing German and Welsh and, therefore, be unregisterable?

Much commentary was received on this topic and opinions were split on all of the issues. As Laurel, Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme outlined the purpose behind the Lingua Anglica Allowance (otherwise known as the Lingua Franca Allowance) in the Cover Letter that accompanied the January 1993 LoAR:

A few recent registrations have left some commenters wondering about the exact status of the College's lingua franca rules. Originally, these were simply the acknowledgement of a hard fact: that the grand majority of SCA folk speak modern English, not Russian, Saxon, Latin, Old Norse, or whatever. The principle was first expressed as a Board ruling (after they'd received correspondence written in medieval Latin!), and codified in the 1986 edition of the Rules for Submissions:

"The official language of the Society is and shall be correct modern English ...Simple particles, such as 'of', may be used without necessarily increasing the counted number of languages contained in the name. The formula, whatever the original languages, is acceptable. This is the usual historian's manner, and therefore Otto of Freising is a familiar form, though he would have been Otto von Freising or some other more Geman or Latin version in most contemporary documents." [NR1]

The same allowance for of is found in the current Rules (Rule III.2.a), though not spelled out in such detail. (28 March, 1993 Cover Letter (January, 1993 LoAR), pp. 2-3)

Keeping this purpose in mind, the fairest way address the current issues is to not count the use of the Lingua Anglica Allowance as a weirdness and to view it as the original language when examining the name for lingual mixes. This policy upholds the precedent

We have in the past returned such epithets as Fyrlocc, on the grounds that they didn't follow known period models for English bynames. However, given the recent documentation of Pyrsokomos "flame-hair" as a valid Greek epithet, we are now inclined to permit its lingua franca translation -- but only for names where the original Greek epithet would be acceptable. The submitter will have to demonstrate regular period interaction between Ireland and Greece before this name meets that criterion -- or else show the construction follows period English models. [Fiona Flamehair, R-An Tir, LoAR 05/93]

Similarly, there would be no weirdness for use of the byname of Saxony as a Lingua Anglica version of the German byname von Sachsen.

In the case of William of Saxony, this name would be considered a mix of the English William and the German von Sachsen. As mixing English and German in a name is registerable with a weirdness, this name has one weirdness for the lingual mix. Rendering von Sachsen as of Saxony via Lingua Anglica does not carry a weirdness. Therefore, this name has one weirdness and is registerable.

In the case of Wilhelm of Saxony, the name combines the German Wilhelm with the German byname von Sachsen. Rendering von Sachsen as of Saxony via Lingua Anglica does not carry a weirdness. Therefore, the name has no weirdnesses and is registerable.

In the case of Rhys of Saxony, this name combines the Welsh Rhys with the German byname von Sachsen. As mixing Welsh and German in a name is not registerable, this name is not registerable under the Lingua Anglica Allowance.

To quote Bruce's ruling again, this policy "seems to be the best compromise between the needs of authenticity and ease of use." (March 28, 1993 Cover Letter (January 1993 LoAR), pp. 2-3). [Cover Letter for the 06/2002 LoAR]

François la Flamme 2002.05 This name combines the given name Kristin, which was documented as a Swedish feminine given name dating to 1318, with the Old Norse byname in hárfagra. Mixing Old Norse and Swedish is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Kristin in hárfagra, 05/2002, A-Æthelmearc]
François la Flamme 2002.04 Einarsson, not Einarson, is the correct patronymic form of the Old Norse name Einarr. As the submitter allows no changes, we were unable to correct this name to Old Norse to match the submitted language. As Sveriges medeltida personnamn (vol. 5, s.n. Enar) dates Thorgyl Enarson to 1439 and Einar Suenson to 1435, Einarson is plausible for Swedish in the 1430s. Danmarks Gamle Personnavne: Fornavne (s.n. Ulf) dates Ulf to assorted dates including the 12th C, the 13th C, 1379, and 1498. Mixing Danish and Swedish in a name is registerable, though a weirdness. As the name elements date to within 300 years of each other, there is not a second weirdness for temporal disparity and this name is registerable. [Ulf Einarson, 04/2002, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2002.04 Listed on the LoI as Sigfrid McLure, the name was originally submitted as Siegfried McClure and changed at kingdom because a combination of Gaelic and German is not registerable. While kingdom is correct that mixing Gaelic and German in a name is not registerable, mixing Scots and German is registerable, though it is a weirdness. As McClure is a Scots form, not a Gaelic form, it is registerable with a German given name. Siegfried is dated to "Up to 1300" in Talan Gwynek's article "Late Period German Masculine Given Names: Names from 14th Century Plauen" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germmasc/plauen14.html) Both Robert McLure and Robert McClure are dated to 1526 in Black (p. 472 s.n. MacClure). Therefore, there is less than 300 years between the dates for the given name and byname, so there is not an additional weirdness for temporal disparity and this name is registerable. [Siegfried McClure, 04/2002, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2002.04 Submitted as Cáel of Skye, the submitter requested authenticity for 12th C Scottish. As submitted, this name had two weirdnesses: one for mixing an Old Irish (c. 700 to c. 900) or Middle Irish (c. 900 to c. 1200) given name with a Scots byname, and one for temporal disparity because this form of the given name is dated no later than 1200 and the spelling Skye has only been found dated to circa 1610 (in Speed's The Counties of Britain, p. 266, map of Scotland, map drawn 1610). Johnston (p. 296 s.n. Skye) dates Skey to 1292. We have changed the byname to this form to remove the temporal disparity in order to register the name.

An authentic name would have been written all in Gaelic or all in Scots depending upon the language of the document in which the name was recorded. As we were able to find no evidence of Cáel used in Scotland, and no documentation has yet been found for locative bynames in Scottish Gaelic except as part of chiefly titles, we were unable to make this name authentic for the submitter's desired time and culture. [Cáel of Skey, 04/2002, A-Caid]

François la Flamme 2002.04 While four generations in a Welsh name (a given name and three generations in the byname) is uncommon, it occurs often enough to be registerable without a weirdness. However, only one example of more than three generations in the patronymic byname has been found outside of genealogies:

[Iestyn ap Cadfael ap Ianto ap Danno ap Richard ap Owen ap Rhys o'r Cwm] Lord Hund has noted the use on a Welsh gravestone of a similarly lengthy name (John ap Robert ap Porth ap Daffyd ap Gruffydd ap Daffyd Vaughan ap Blethyn ap Gruffydd ap Meredith ap Jerworth ap Llewellyn ap Jerom ap Heilin ap Cowryd ap Cadwan ap Alawgwa ap Cadell of Powys, born 1547). The gravestone is as much a legal "document" as a birth record. (Iestyn ap Cadfael ap Ianto ap Danno ap Richard ap Owen ap Rhys o'r Cwm, September, 1992, pg. 33)

Given this example, a Welsh byname containing more than three generations is registerable. However, since only one example has been found outside of genealogies, it is a weirdness. Genealogies serve a special purpose, and so do not solely represent a person's name. Rather they identify a person's lineage, which is not necessarily part of their name. Therefore, the number of generations represented in a genealogy is not support for that number of generations in a normal name.

This name has a weirdness for use of Cerridwyn, which is registerable only because it is grandfathered to the submitter. The spelling Cerridwyn is not SCA compatible; only the spellings Ceridwen and Cerridwen were ruled SCA compatible in August 1995. The six generations in the byname in this submission is a second weirdness which costs the name the benefit of the doubt and makes it unregisterable in this form. As the submitter allows any changes, we have dropped the last three generations in the byname in order to register the name. The submitter also requested authenticity for Welsh. As there is no evidence that any form of Cerridwyn was used by humans in period, we were unable to make this name authentic as requested by the submitter. [Cerridwyn Eurgledde ferch Owain ap Bychan ap Gruffudd, 04/2002, A-Calontir]

François la Flamme 2002.04 The submitter specifically allowed addition of the element Andrew to clear this conflict. Use of two given names in Scots is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Donald Andrew MacDonald, 04/2002, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2002.03 Submitted as Gabrielle de Brandune, the submitter requested authenticity for 15th to 16th C. As submitted, this name combined a 16th C French given name and a 10th C Old English byname. There is one weirdness for the lingual mix of French and Old English and a second weirdness for a temporal disparity greater than 300 years. Therefore, the submitted form of the name was not registerable. In order to register this name, we have changed the spelling of the byname to de Brandon, which is dated to 1379 in Bardsley (p. 129 s.n. Brandon). [Gabrielle de Brandon, 03/2002, A-Drachenwald]
François la Flamme 2002.03 Submitted as Ignacio James, Ignacio was documented from Withycombe (p. 162 s.n. Inigo) as "a Spanish given name found since the 8th Century A.D.". The LoI also states that it is the submitter's legal given name but gives no documentation (such as a photocopy of a driver's license or other proof) to support a claim for the Legal Name allowance. Therefore, the name must be considered only on the merits of the documentation. As Ignacio was documented as an 8th C Spanish given name and James was documented as an English surname dating to the 12th to 13th C, this submission had two weirdnesses: one for a lingual mix and one for temporal disparity, since the elements were documented to more than 300 years apart. Since the submitter allows any changes, we have substituted the Italian Ignazio, which De Felice Dizionario dei nomi Italiani (pp. 208-9 s.n. Ignazio) cite in reference to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish saint who lived in the 16th C. Since Bardsley (p. 425 s.n. James) dates Alice James to 1566-7, Ignazio James has one weirdness for mixing Italian and English in a single name, but has no weirdness for temporal disparity. [Ignazio James, 03/2002, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2002.02 Pre-1100 Dutch and Old Norse were ruled registerable, though a weirdness, in the registration of Aldgudana Gunnarsdóttir in the LoAR of November 2001. [Rothin in flamska, 02/02, A-Outlands]
François la Flamme 2002.02 Mixing Old English and Middle English in a single name was ruled a weirdness in the LoAR of October 2001 (s.n. Saxsa Corduan). [Eadweard Boise the Wright,02/02, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2002.02 The submitter requested authenticity for 14th�15th C Russia and allowed any changes. Both Anton and Ivan are Christian names. Having two Christian names in a Russian name was ruled a weirdness in the June 1997 LoAR. An authentic name for this time period would have only a single Christian name. [Anton Ivan Stanislavich, 02/02, A-Æthelmearc]
François la Flamme 2002.02 This name mixes the Dutch given name Toen and the English surname Fitzwilliam, which is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Toen Fitzwilliam, 02/02, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2002.02 Mixing Arabic and English in a name is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Tahir the Mad, 02/02, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2002.02 Mixing Italian and Scots in a name was ruled a weirdness in August 1999:
While there is little evidence for mixed Scots/Italian names, there is enough contact between the cultures for this to be allowable. It is, however, a "weirdness." (Laertes McBride, A-Caid, LoAR 08/99)
[Cassia MacWilliam, 02/02, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2002.02 This name mixes the Italian Tessa and the English byname the Huntress. Such a mixture is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Tessa the Huntress, 02/02, A-Æthelmearc]
François la Flamme 2002.02 Mea was documented as Italian and the Bold was documented as English. Mixing Italian and English in a name was ruled registerable, though a weirdness, in the LoAR of September 1999 (Veronica de Holloway). [Mea the Bold, 02/02, A-Æthelmearc]
François la Flamme 2002.01 Reaney & Wilson (p. 439 s.n. Tanner) date William le Tanner to 1256. This is early enough to avoid a weirdness for temporal disparity, so the submitted name only has a weirdness for mixing Old Norse and English. In English, the pattern [given name] [descriptive byname] [occupational byname] is unexceptional. As the problematic element (the occupational byname as a second byname in a Norse name) is unexceptional in this position in the language in which it is submitted (English), this name is registerable. [Oddr ölfúss the Tanner, 01/02, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2002.01 This name is registerable as a mix of Old English and Middle English. It would be more authentic in a fully Old English form (Ælfred se leof) or a fully Middle English form (Alfred þe Lef). [Ælfred þe Lef, 01/02, A-Lochac]
François la Flamme 2002.01 Mixing Spanish and German is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Theresa von Elp, 01/02, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2001.12 The name has a weirdness for mixing Gaelic and Anglicized forms. [Fionnghuala O Murrigane, 12/01, A-Artemisia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 Callistus was the name of a patriarch of Constantinople (d. 1363), part of the name of Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos (a Byzantine historian, d. 1335), and the name of a pope in 1457. It is also a Latinized form of the French given name Calixte. Juliana de Luna's article "Portuguese Names 1350-1450" lists Gill as a patronymic byname. This name mixes Latinized French and Portuguese, which is a weirdness. [Callistus Gill, 12/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 [Order of the Manatee] The manatee is a New World animal that was in an area of the New World known by Western Europeans in period (Florida). New World flora and fauna have been ruled a weirdness when used as a heraldic charge:
[An aardvark] For purposes of registration, coastal sub-Saharan flora and fauna are considered the same as New World flora and fauna: they are a discouraged weirdness, but registerable. [Jamie Snawberd of Ross, 08/99, A-Caid]
As we have evidence of order names based on heraldic charges, and a manatee is a registerable charge, this order name is registerable. It is reasonable to have order names based on charges parallel the registerability of those charges. Therefore, this order name has only a weirdness for using a New World animal. [Atlantia, Kingdom of, 12/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 This name mixes the Gaelic Colum with the English or Scots Maxwell, which is registerable though it counts as a weirdness. [Colum Maxwell, 12/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 There is one weirdness for mixing the French Amalia with the German Künne. [Amalia K�nne, 12/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 Mixing Russian and English is a weirdness. [Rumil Fletcher, 12/01, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2001.12 Mixing Gaelic and Scots is a weirdness. [Coilín de Kirkpatrick, 12/01, A-Artemisia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 Mixing Old English and Old Norse is a weirdness. [Ethelfleda Daviðsdottir, 12/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.12 The name has a weirdness for mixing Swedish and Norse. [Iodis Ebbesdottir, 12/01, A-Drachenwald]
François la Flamme 2001.12 Mixing Scots and Norse is registerable, though it counts as a weirdness. [Skafte Waghorne, 12/01, A-Drachenwald]
François la Flamme 2001.12 There is one weirdness for using two Slavic given names in Russian. [Rurik Levushka Ul'ianov, 12/01, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2001.12 The name, as submitted, had two weirdnesses: one for lingual mix and one for temporal disparity (since the given name is dated no later than 1200 and the desired spelling of the byname is appropriate to c. 1610). As the LoI stated that the submitter preferred the spelling Inverness, we have changed the given name to the post-1200 form to remove the temporal disparity in order to register this name. [Breacnait of Inverness, 12/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.11 This name combines a pre-1100 Dutch given name with a Norse byname. Given the wide sphere of influence of Norse traders/raiders/et cetera, it seems reasonable that these two cultures had significant contact. Therefore, this combination is registerable, although a weirdness. [Aldgudana Gunnarsdóttir, 11/01, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2001.11 This name has two weirdnesses: one for lingual disparity and a second for temporal disparity. The given name Temair is documented to 665 as an Irish Gaelic feminine given name. The element Sweynsei is documented to 1188 as a place name in English. Therefore, the submitted name combines Irish Gaelic and English, which is a weirdness, and combines elements more than 300 years apart, which is another weirdness. [Temair Sweynsei, 11/01, R-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2001.11 The lingual mix of Italian (Arianna) and English (Wlfraven) is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Arianna Wlfraven, 11/01, A-Trimaris]
François la Flamme 2001.11 Mixing the Italian Francesca with the German Gerdrudis and German Kesselheim is a weirdness. [Francesca Gerdrudis Kesselheim, 11/01, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2001.11 Corwin was ruled SCA-compatible in the cover letter for the December 1985 LoAR. There was some question about the registerability of this name. The use of an SCA compatible name carries a weirdness. As stated by Gage, The byname of Saxony is only plausible as a Germanic name translated under the lingua anglica rule. At this time, there is not a weirdness for using the Lingua Anglica allowance. Also, there is no clear precedent whether the Lingua Anglica byname of Saxony should be viewed as English or as German. Therefore, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt at this time and registering the name. [Corwin of Saxony, 11/01, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2001.11 This name mixes the Irish Gaelic Muirghein with the Anglicized MacKiernan which is a weirdness. [Muirghein MacKiernan, 11/01, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2001.11 This name has a weirdness for mixing pre-1200 and post-1200 Gaelic orthographies. [Tigernach Ó Catháin, 11/01, A-Caid]
François la Flamme 2001.11 The submitter requested authenticity for Scots-French. In period, a name with mixed elements would have been rendered all in one language depending upon the language of the document where the name was recorded. In this case, if the record would have been written completely in Scots or completely in French. Therefore, this name is not authentic. It has one weirdness for mixing Scots and French. [Laurensa Fraser, 11/01, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2001.11 Although this name combines a Gaelic given name with an English byname, which is a weirdness, it is registerable. [Caitlin Watkyns, 11/01, A-Caid]
François la Flamme 2001.11 All evidence provided with the submission and found by the College indicates that Niall is a spelling unique to Gaelic in period. It is included in the headers in Withycombe (p. 228 s.n. Nigel), but the text makes it clear that Niall is the usual modern Irish form. Given that the Anglo-Normans who settled in Ireland spoke French, and many were descended from families from Normandy, this Gaelic and French mix is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Niall de Marseilles, 11/01, A-Lochac]
François la Flamme 2001.11 Mixing English and German in a single name is a weirdness. [Lillian von Wolfsberg, 11/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.10 There is a weirdness for mixing elements whose spellings are only documented as Old English (Saxsa) and Middle English (Corduan). As there are no other weirdnesses in this name, it is registerable. [Saxsa Corduan, 10/01, A-Meridies]
François la Flamme 2001.10 Given the significant contact between Turks and crusaders, combining a Turkish given name and an English byname in the same name is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Mihrimah the Traveler, 10/01, R-Ansteorra] [Ed.: returned for two weirdnesses]
François la Flamme 2001.10 Therefore, there is only one weirdness in this name: the one for mixing the French name Maura with the Scots byname MacPharlane. As all the elements, as well as the construction, are dated to within 300 years of each other, there is no weirdness for temporal disparity. With only one weirdness, this name is registerable. [Maura MacPharlane, 10/01, A-Atlantia]
François la Flamme 2001.10 There are two issues with the name Lilias MacLeòid ... The first is a mix of Gaelic and English. This is one weirdness, but such a mix is registerable. [Lilias MacLeod, 10/01, A-Trimaris]
François la Flamme 2001.10 It was felt that the name construction was plausible enough to register. However, given that we have no concrete examples of this construction in Russian in period, it is a weirdness. [Sankt Vladimir, College of, 10/01, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2001.09 ... and the construction (feminine given name + Mac-form byname) are all dated within a 300-year period, there is not a second weirdness for temporal disparity. Therefore, this name is registerable as it only has one weirdness for the lingual mix.

(Note: see the Cover Letter for further clarification regarding the registerability of saints' names.) [Maura MacLeod, 09/01, A-Æthelmearc]
François la Flamme 2001.09 Submitted as Katrina Celeste Rosehearty, this name had one weirdness for mixing the English Celeste with an otherwise Scots name and a second weirdness for a double given name in Scots. We have dropped Celeste to resolve this issue. [Katrina Rosehearty, 09/01, A-Caid]
François la Flamme 2001.09 Double given names were not known in Scotland in period (though they are registerable as a weirdness). [Joseph Angus Wilson, 09/01, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2001.09 ... An English and Irish Gaelic combination is registerable with one weirdness. [09/01, CL]
François la Flamme 2001.09 The given name ... is Gaelic and the byname ... is Scots. While this lingual mix is registerable, it is a weirdness. [Ailill Lockhart, 09/01, A-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme 2001.09 ... An Italian and Irish Gaelic combination is not registerable. [09/01, CL]
François la Flamme 2001.09 This name combines a Gaelic given name with an Anglicized byname which is a weirdness. [Banbnat MacDermot, 09/01, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2001.09 The submitter requested authenticity for Scottish language/culture. Double given names were not known in Scotland in period (though they are registerable as a weirdness). As the submitter does not allow major changes, we were unable to make this name authentic. [Joseph Angus Wilson, 09/01, A-Calontir]
François la Flamme 2001.08 Submitted as Michael Ian Sinclair, this name has two problems. The name Ian has not been documented to period but has been declared SCA-compatible. Use of an SCA-compatible name is a weirdness. Additionally, double given names in Scots have also been ruled a weirdness. Therefore, this name had two weirdnesses and would need to be returned. [Michael Sinclair, 08/01, A-Merides]
François la Flamme 2001.08 Aislinn was ruled SCA-compatible in the August 2000 LoAR. The given name Fiona has been ruled SCA-compatible. As Fiona is the submitter's legal given name, it is only automatically registerable in the corresponding part of a Society name. The Legal Name allowance would permit this submitter to register Fiona as her given name. However, regardless of whether Fiona is viewed as registerable via the Legal Name Allowance or as an SCA-compatible name, it still counts as a weirdness since the name Fiona was not used in period. Names which were not used in period, but are registerable via the Legal Name Allowance, were ruled to be a weirdness in January 1996:
[W]e see no reason to distinguish between "SCA-compatible" names and other non-period names permitted under the provisions of RfS II.4 (Legal Names): both are allowed as concessions to modern sensibilities despite their inauthentic nature.

Beginning with the 5/96 meeting, therefore, use of two individually permissible non-period elements in a single name will be considered two weirdnesses and will be grounds for return. Such elements include non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance as well as those names, apparently not used by human beings in period, that have been declared "SCA-compatible"... (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the January 1996 LoAR, pp. 3-4)
Additionally, in the name Aislinn Fiona of Rumm, Fiona can only be interpreted as a second given name or as an unmarked matronymic. Use of double given names and unmarked matronymics in Gaelic have both been cause for return in the past. [Aislinn Fiona of Rumm, 08/01, R-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2001.08 ... the combination of a Russian given name and a German byname is not documented... although it is registerable. [Tatiana Heinemann, 08/01, A-Trimaris]
François la Flamme 2001.08 ... Russian and Welsh are not a registerable combination. [09/01, CL]
François la Flamme 2001.08 Having two given Christian names in a Russian name was ruled a weirdness in the June 1997 LoAR. As both Aleksandra and Ekaterina are Christian names, this submission has one weirdness and is registerable. [Aleksandra Ekaterina Romanova, 08/01, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2001.08 Having two given Christian names in a Russian name was ruled a weirdness in the June 1997 LoAR. As both Andreiana and Ekaterina are Christian names, this submission has one weirdness and is registerable. [Andreiana Ekaterina Romanova, 08/01, A-An Tir]
François la Flamme 2001.08 The submitter requested authenticity for 16th C German-Welsh. No documentation has been provided of substantial contact between German and Welsh cultures. Therefore, a name combining German and Welsh elements is not registerable. [Anton Cwith, 08/01, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2001.08 The combination of Scots and Welsh is registerable, though it is considered a weirdness. As such, Anton Cwith is registerable as a mix of Scots and Welsh. Note: this ruling does not alter previous rulings prohibiting mixed Gaelic/Welsh names, as Scots is a different language than Scottish Gaelic. [Anton Cwith, 08/01, A-Ansteorra]
François la Flamme 2001.08 Mixing Spanish and Italian in a name is registerable, though it is a weirdness. [Helena Seren de Luna, 08/01, A-Atenveldt]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.07 Submitted as Caiterína ingen Máirgréc, the question was raised whether Irish metronymic bynames are registerable. They have been ruled unregisterable as recently as February 2000, for the reason that There are no known examples of metronymics in Gaelic names outside of two examples both involving royalty whose claim to the throne was through the female line.

However, recent evidence provided by Orle suggests that the situation is not quite that simple. People other than royalty were occasionally identified by their female ancestors: the Annals of Connacht have, for example, clann ingine Eogain the sons of Eogan's daughter and Sida Occ mac ingini h. Dubidir Sida Oc, the son of O Duibidir's daughter; the Annals of the Four Masters have, for instance, Mac Con Mara .i. mac inghene Uí Dálaigh Mac Namara (i.e. the son of O'Daly's daughter) and Brian mac an Chalbhaigh Uí Chonchobhair & Mairgrege Brian, the son of Calvagh O'Conor, by Margaret.

Based on this new evidence we feel that a properly constructed Irish metronymic should be considered a weirdness instead of reason for a return by itself. An unmarked metronymic is still unregisterable. She asked for an authentic 10th century Irish name, but we were not able to comply with this request without changing the byname entirely. Instead, we have changed the metronymic to the grammatically correct form. We have also changed the spelling of the metronymic particle to make the name temporally consistent, since using an early form of the particle (as submitted) with a name that is only dated to late period would make the name unregisterable. [Caiterína inghean Mháirgrége, 07/01, A-Calontir]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.07 The submitter requested an authentic 16th century Gaelic name. We were not able to comply with this request: in fact, the College did not find evidence that the given name was used later than 8th century. While we consider a temporal disparity of eight centuries a weirdness we do not consider it sufficient reason to return the name. [Rónán mac an Stalcair, 07/01, A-Atlantia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.06 Submitted as Faílenn inghean Mheanmain of Ulster, the name had two weirdnesses: combining an Anglicised locative byname with Gaelic elements, and a temporal difference of several centuries between the given name and the patronymic. We have corrected the former by dropping the locative. Note that evidence suggests that Irish locative bynames were normally adjectives � that is, one would be called the Ulsterwoman instead of of Ulster. [Faílenn inghean Mheanmain, 06/01, A-Atlantia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.06 Submitted on the LoI in this form, Cali seems to be a misreading of 'Ali. Even so, the documentation of this name had several problems, and while none of them would in itself be grounds for return, the combination is not registerable.

Using the kunya of one's father as a part of the name, such as Abi 'Ali here, seems to have been rare enough to be considered a weirdness, at least when followed by father's 'ism, in this case Mahmud.

Mahmud itself is a Turkish form of Muhammad, unattested in an Arabic context. While registerable as a part of an Arabic name it is also a weirdness.

Finally, al-Mufassir is essentially an occupational byname. As such it should normally appear either as the final element or right before the final element. Its position at the beginning of the name is a weirdness as well. [Al-Mufassir Ibrahim ibn Abi Cali Mahmud Al-Fatimi, 06/01, R-Ealdoremere]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.04 While combining Russian with French is registerable, it is a weirdness. The use of double given names in Russian was also ruled a weirdness by Jaelle of Armida in June 1997. The name is, therefore, not registerable as it is. [Jarucha Ekaterina Delamare, 04/01, R-Caid]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.03 Submitted as Murchadh inn digri, the name combined Irish and Norse elements. While this is registerable it is a weirdness; to prevent a second weirdness we have changed the given name to a temporally compatible form. [Murchad inn digri, 03/01, A-Meridies]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2001.01 Briana is SCA compatible. Submitted as Briana MacConmara, the surname is Gaelic, and, as such the gender of the patronymic is incorrect. If we corrected the gender of the patronymic, then the name would have two weirdnesses: mixed English and Gaelic orthographies and the use of an SCA compatible name. [Briana MacNamara, 01/00, A-Atlantia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.07 The name has two moderately serious problems. First, the name Iain, while ruled SCA compatible, is not attested in period. Second, the name Menzies is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mèinnearach, so the submitted name as a whole mixes Gaelic and Anglicized orthographies. Neither of these problems would in itself be grounds for a return; however, the combination of the two makes this submission not acceptable. [Iain Bán Menzies, 07/00, R-Atlantia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.07 Submitted as Úlfarr MacVanis, he requested an authentic Norse/Scots name. The combination of an Old Norse given name and an Anglicized Scots patronymic had too severe a temporal disparity. We have therefore changed the spelling of the given name to medieval Norwegian. [Ulvar MacVanis, 07/00, A-Lochac]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.05 Submitted as Gerlinda Uda Agast , the name had two moderately serious problems. First, there was a five-century gap between the documented dates for the given names and the byname; second, we have found no evidence that double given names were used in Dutch-speaking regions in our period. Neither of these problems would in itself be grounds for return, but the combination is unacceptable, as it would take the name two steps away from period practice. We have therefore dropped the second given name. [Gerlinda Agast, 05/00, A-Middle]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.04 Submitted as Anu of Shelmerdine, this name has two weirdnesses: it combines English and Irish orthography, and the form Anu was only found before 1300 and Selmerdine is dated to the 16th century, therefore the name is temporally incompatible. We have, therefore, changed the given name to a late period form. [Ana of Shelmerdine, 04/00, A-Middle]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.04 There are several problems with the name. Brenna is not Gaelic, but is justfiable as possibly Italian. This makes the name acceptable by itself, but not with the rest of the name. The mixture of English and Gaelic spellings in the name is a weirdness. Furthermore, there is no evidence of Scottish or Irish names with two given names, much less three. Also, there is no evidence of the use of Clan <X> in names. Lastly, the Macghie of MacKay implied that the submitter is the clan chief or the clan chief's daughter, which is presumptuous. The submitter should also be informed that Michaela is not Irish. [Brenna Michaela Sine Macghie of Clan MacKay, 04/00, R-Atenveldt]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.04 Submitted as Cassandra Annabell O Seanacain, the name has two weirdnesses: the mixture of Gaelic and English spelling conventions and the use of two given names, particularly in an Irish context, where it is not allowed. It also used a masculine form of the patronymic with a feminine name. By Anglicizing the surname, we make this an English name for someone of Irish decent, making it registerable. [Cassandra Annabelle O Shannahan, 04/00, A-Atenveldt]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.04 This name has the weirdness of mixing English and Gaelic spelling plus the problem of two given names in Irish. Both problems could be solved by dropping Caitlin, but the submitter allowed no major changes. [Honor Caitlin nic Curtin, 04/00, R-Atenveldt]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.02 Maura is not justifiable as a period Irish name, as it is a diminutive of Maire, which did not appear in Ireland until the end of our period. There is a possible justification of Maura as a feminization of an 8th c. Frankish male name, but there are other problems. Morlet lists Maura to 739, while MacPharlain is first cited in 1385 (Black, s.n. MacFarlane). Thus the name would have two weirdnesses: the combination of French and Scots Gaelic and temporal incompatibility. [Maura MacPharlain, 02/00, R-Atlantia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.12 Submitted as Duncan Alasdair MacRae, the name had two wierdnesses: mixing the Gaelic and English spellings, and using a double given name in Scots. Therefore, we have Anglicized the entire name. [Duncan Alastair MacRae, 12/99, A-Outlands]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.12 Submitted as Rosalinda Francisca Gertrude Kesselheim, the submitter justified the name as a mixture of Spanish and German. In neither language are three given names justified, therefore we dropped the first middle name. This name still has a "weirdness", as Rosalinda has fallen out of use in Germany by the time double given names were in use. [Rosalinda Gertrude Kesselheim, 12/99, A-Ansteorra]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.10 The submitter should be informed that while two given names were used in medieval Russia, one of them was invariably Slavic in origin. In this case both given names are Christian, which is currently a registerable weirdness. [Ekaterina Filippiia, 10/99, A-An Tir]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.10 Submitted as Ian MacEanruig, that name contains two weirdnesses: it uses a post-period anglicization of a Gaelic name and mixes Gaelic and English orthographies. [Ian MacHenrik, 10/99, A-An Tir]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.09 An Italian-English name combination is a weirdness (barring evidence of such combinations in period) but acceptable. [Veronica de Holloway, 09/99, A-Artemisia]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.09 While registerable, using an English given name with a Spanish surname is unusual. [Andrew Quintero, 09/99, A-Atenveldt]
Elsbeth Anne Roth 1999.08 Mixing a Dutch name with a Scots name is a "weirdness" but registerable. [Willem MacLear, 08/99, A-Æthelmearc]
Jaelle of Armida 1998.04 There has been a number of commenters counting the use of an SCA branch name in an SCA name submission as a "weirdness" if the official group name is in poor style -- i.e. not in the form of a documentable place-name. The use of any registered official groups will not count as a weirdness. To decide on a case-by-case basis if the group name is a weirdness in a personal name submission requires an additional, unnecessary level of decision. (Cover Letter 4/98)
Jaelle of Armida 1997.06 We would like to thank Predslaza Vydrina for all hard work she did on researching the use of double Christian names in Russia in period. We are very impressed with the amount of work and research she did on this. At this time, however, we are not prepared to ban them, though we will consider them a weirdness. We also want to remind the College that three given names in Russian is banned. (Jaelle of Armida, CL with the June 1997 LoAR, p. 2)
Jaelle of Armida 1996.11 No one has been able to provide any evidence that period order names ever used a location in the name. Therefore, from now on, adding the name of a place to an order name will be considered one weirdness. (Jaelle of Armida, CL November 18, 1996, with the November 1996 LoAR, p. 2)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1996.05 Brianna is a modern name that has been ruled 'SCA-compatible'; its use is a definite 'weirdness' and costs the name any further benefit of the doubt (see SCA-Compatibility is Weird in the 1/96 Cover Letter). (Talan Gwynek, LoAR May 1996, p. 24)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1996.01 [Rhonwen Briana MacLean] Rhonwen does not seem to have been used by human beings in our period; it is the modern Welsh form of a name used by Geoffrey of Monmouth for a fictional character. Briana is a modern name that does not appear to have been used at all in period. Both have been ruled `SCA-compatible'; in accordance with current practice, we are therefore registering the name. However, we consider the use of one these names a `weirdness'; use of two is excessively weird and will be grounds for return as of the May, 1996, Laurel Meeting. For more information please see the Cover Letter. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR January 1996, p. 8)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1996.01 This month's submission of the name Rhonwen Briana MacLean (Atlantia) raised in almost its purest form the question of just what is meant by `SCA-compatibility' of a name. (Ceridwen Rhiannon MacLean might have posed the question a little more bluntly.) Does `SCA-compatibility' give a name the same status as an attested period name, or does it represent a kind of second-class onomastic citizenship?

In actual usage the term SCA-compatible, when applied to a name, appears to mean `not used by human beings in period (so far as we know), but too popular in the SCA to be disallowed'. Thus, use of one of these names is (on the best available evidence) a non-period practice. We allow many practices that were non-existent or nearly so in period, both in our names and in our armory, but in general we stigmatize them as `weirdnesses' and do not allow too many of them to be combined in a single name or armory. They are `compatible' in the sense that they are not completely disallowed, but they are still not considered fully acceptable. It is consistent with this approach to allow a name to include a single `SCA-compatible' element but no more; each such element added to a name further removes it from the realm of authentic period practice. Indeed, we see no reason to distinguish between `SCA-compatible' names and other non-period names permitted under the provisions of RfS II.4 (Legal Names): both are allowed as concessions to modern sensibilities despite their inauthentic nature.

Beginning with the 5/96 meeting, therefore, use of two individually permissible non-period elements in a single name will be considered two `weirdnesses' and will be grounds for return. Such elements include non-period names allowed under the Legal Name Allowance as well as those names, apparently not used by human beings in period, that have been declared `SCA-compatible', e.g., Briana, Ceridwen (in several variants), Gwendolen/Guendolen, R(h)onwen, and Rowena. (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the January 1996 LoAR, pp. 3-4)

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1995.11 The name was submitted as Cyneburh Ceridwen MacDougall, which contains at least four `weirdnesses': (1) the names are from three different cultures and languages; (2) Ceridwen seems not to have been used by human beings in period and is allowed only on sufferance; (3) there is a huge chronological gap between Cyneburh and MacDougall; and (4) the overall structure has been documented only for the language of the weakest element (Ceridwen) or for a date completely incompatible with Cyneburh. We have replaced the given name with a later form to ameliorate the last two and consider the first two not quite extreme enough to warrant further changes. Nevertheless, the name would be far more authentic without the Ceridwen. [Registered as Kyneburgh Ceridwen MacDougall] (Talan Gwynek, LoAR November 1995, pp.1-2)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1995.08 Wherefore art thou Gwendolyn? Two submissions this month raised the question of the name Gwendolyn. To quote Harpy Herald: `Gwendolyn is a modern spelling variant of the name of a fictional character (Guendolen) in the Historia Regum Brittaniae whose name is based on a misreading of the masculine name Guendoleu. The name was not in common use in period, in my experience, although it certainly is in the SCA. We should probably just go ahead and declare it in the same category as Ceridwen and Rhiannon as "not historically justifiable but too deeply rooted to get rid of without a fuss".' The name is certainly quite common in the SCA: in one spelling or another it has been registered to more than 50 different people. Given this level of popularity, I am reluctant to ban the name outright despite the lack of any real justification for it. I am equally reluctant to extend the allowance to modern forms of the name, however. Therefore the name will henceforth be considered `SCA-compatible' in the forms Guendolen and Gwendolen but not the modern Gwendolyn, and the underlying principle will be extended to any other forms that are proposed. (This decision can be thought of as an extension of the `Rule of Two Weirdnesses': the name itself is one weirdness, and a modern spelling is another.) (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter with the August 1995, p. 2)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1995.06 There have been some commenters of late who have been calling for the return of name submissions where the various elements of the name are not dated to within 300 years of each other. Other commenters are apparently under the impression that some names have already been returned because their various elements are not dated to within 300 years of each other. Laurel is at a loss to understand how a precedent set by Baron Bruce which said specifically that a temporal discontinuity of 300 years or more was not, in and of itself, sufficient reason to return a name, has become in recent times the "300 year rule" requiring the return of a submission. So that we may all be clear on the topic, I quote the relevant precedent here.

In a number of my recent rulings, I've ruled that excessive temporal mismatching can be considered a "weirdness", costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt. With this LoAR [March 1993], I hereby make the new policy official: If the elements of a submitted name are dated too far apart, then any other anomaly in the name may combine to force it to be returned. The greater the temporal divide, the greater the anomaly: a given name and byname whose spellings are documented within, say, a century of each other will probably be all right, but a three-century divide is pushing it.

By itself, temporal incompatibility is still not sufficient reason for return. I haven't yet been faced with a case so extreme (a couple of millennia, say) to require a return; our worst instance of temporal mismatch (Tamas of Midian) also involved geographic mismatch as well. But henceforth, excessive temporal mismatch may contribute to a name's unacceptability; another problem with the name may cause it to be returned. [Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, 8 May 1993 Cover Letter, pg. 4] (Da'ud ibn Auda, Cover Letter to the LoAR of June 1995, pp. 2-3)

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1994.12 I realize that this has an Irish Gaelic given and an Englished surname..., but it was felt that the combination was only one "weirdness". (Da'ud ibn Auda, LoAR December 1994, p. 6)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1994.08 [returning the locative vom Dunkelschloss] The usual generics for castle, etc. were -burg, -berg, and -stein, and somewhat less often -fels, -eck, and -feste. The few examples of schloss, none of which are clearly period, use the word as a prefix: Schloss X. Given the extreme rarity of dunkel as a placename element at all, the combination seems to make Dunkelschloss far too improbable to register. Dunkelstein, Dunkelburg, Dunkelberg, and Dunkelfels would probably all be registerable: the first element is still somewhat unlikely, but the overall construction is fine, and so the use of dunkel would be only "one weirdness". (Any of these would make as good a name for a town as for a castle, so the article dem could be dispensed with, e.g., Conrad von Dunkelfels.) If he really wants to get Schloss in there somewhere, Palimpsest recommended Conrad von Schloss Dunkelfels (or one of the other variants); this matches the actual use of Schloss in the few examples that he could find. (Again the article dem is unnecessary.) (Conrad vom Dunkelschloss, 8/94 p. 18)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1994.04 [Returning Kendrick of the Saxon Shore.] Kendrick is acceptable in this spelling only as a late period given name. The phrase "Saxon Shore" comes from a 5th Century document called the Notitia Dignitatem, which includes a list of stations under the command of an officer called comes litoris Saxonici ("Count of the Saxon Shore"). This title (not name element) dates from the late 3rd Century at the earliest, and [no] evidence of its use appears after the breakdown of Roman authority in Britain (late 5th Century). It does not appear to have been used in any other way (say, as a placename). The combination of an extremely unlikely placename, "lingua franca" or not, which would only have been used (if at all) in early period with a late period given name exceeds the "Rule of Two Weirdnesses", iterated by Baron Bruce in his May 8, 1993 Cover Letter: "If the elements of a submitted name are dated too far apart, then any other anomaly in the name may combine to force it to be returned. ... [H]enceforth, excessive temporal mismatch may contribute to a name's unacceptability; another problem with the name may cause it to be returned." (Cover Letter, May 8, 1993, p. 4) [4/94, p.18]
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.03 [Catherine of Deva] The city now called Chester ceased to be called Deva around the time of the birth of Christ; the use of the latter with the name of a 3rd Century martyr is, in Lady Harpy's words, "screamingly improbable." It is, however, the only "weirdness" in the name, and we're generally forgiving of such anachronisms. (Catherine of Deva, March, 1993, pg. 9)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.03 A couple of our onomasticists have argued for increased standards of temporal compatibility in SCA names: that the English of the 5th and 16th Centuries are as culturally immiscible as Aztec and Viking, and should be as unacceptable, per Rule III.2. The College has mostly been concerned that the parts of a name be compatible geographically (e.g. French and Italian); we've never been strict about the equivalent temporal mismatches. Both Mistress Alisoun and Master Da'ud declined to make temporal compatibility a reason for return. To paraphrase Mistress Alisoun, in a Society where a 10th Century Viking can sit beside an Elizabethan lady at a feast, temporal requirements probably aren't worth the grief. Moreover, some names changed very little over time, in any given country (the modern English John hasn't changed in half a millennium); temporal problems are thus more difficult to demonstrate than geographic problems.

I've no intention of completely overturning the policy of my predecessors. However, in a number of my recent rulings, I've ruled that excessive temporal mismatching can be considered a "weirdness", costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt. With this LoAR, I hereby make the new policy official: If the elements of a submitted name are dated too far apart, then any other anomaly in the name may combine to force it to be returned. The greater the temporal divide, the greater the anomaly: a given name and byname whose spellings are documented within, say, a century of each other will probably be all right, but a three-century divide is pushing it.

By itself, temporal incompatibility is still not sufficient reason for return. I haven't yet been faced with a case so extreme (a couple of millennia, say) to require a return; our worst instance of temporal mismatch (Tamas of Midian) also involved geographic mismatch as well. But henceforth, excessive temporal mismatch may contribute to a name's unacceptability; another problem with the name may cause it to be returned. (8 May, 1993 Cover Letter (March, 1993 LoAR), pg. 4)

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.10 The use of four elements in an English name is anomalous (a "weirdness"), costing the submitter the benefit of the doubt (LoAR of July 92, p.18); it's permissible only if there are no other problems with the name. (Aric Thomas Percy Raven, October, 1992, pg. 30)
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.08 Lady Ensign has provided documentation for combining Aztec elements in a Spanish name:  Juan de Texeda was an Indian governor in 1540. [Salvador Juárez de Xochimilco, 08/1992, A-Caid]
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1992.07 Withycombe (p.xliii) mentions "very rare, isolated examples" of period names with multiple name elements: they grow more common in the late 16th Century, but don't become abundant until the 17th Century. Of those rare instances that do occur, three elements seem to have been the norm: e.g. John William Whytting, c.1386; Robert Browne Lilly, b.1593; Arthur Rous Russhe, b.1564. English names with four elements are so rare in period that I would consider the usage a "weirdness," costing a submitter the benefit of the doubt; and English names with five elements ...I must consider over the edge of acceptability. (Catherine Elizabeth Holly Winthrop of Lincolnshire, July, 1992, pg. 18)
Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane 1987.08 It would appear that the form Eirianwen is a modern backformation on the analogy of the period name Arianwen. (LoAR Aug 87, p. 10) [Returned for this combined with problems with the byname]