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Given Withycombe's citation of Danyell in 1379, and Dauzat's citations of Michelle and Gabrielle, Danielle seems a reasonable French feminine form. (Danielle Corinna d'Assisi, September, 1992, pg. 5)
Yonge [History of Christian Names] is no longer considered a trustworthy source. Her main strength is the breadth of languages she covered; for many of those languages (including French) she has been superceded by far more reliable works. (Estevene Grippon, September, 1992, pg. 6)
[DuPray] Neither [Reaney, Dictionary of British Surnames nor Dauzat] supported the coalesced, doubly-capitalized form submitted. (Facon du Pray, September, 1992, pg. 6)
[Melisaundre] The given name was ...justified as a hybrid of Melisande and Alisaundre. Unfortunately, French names aren't thematic (as, e.g., Old Norse names are); melding the first half of one French name with the last half of another doesn't usually yield a valid given name. (In this case, the two names aren't even derived from the same source: Melisande is ultimately German in origin, and Alisaundre derives from the Greek.) While it might be plausible that one name would change due to the other's influence, we'd like to see some evidence of this; pending such evidence, we've substituted the documented name Melisenda. (Melisenda Brigitte Nazaire d'Avignon, September, 1992, pg. 24)
[d'Ailleurs] The French byname literally means "of Elsewhere", which seems highly improbable as a period locative. (Its more common idiomatic meaning is "on the other hand", which makes even less sense.) We have previously returned names whose locatives were this unspecific: v. Dughal MacDonnel of Kennaquhair ("of Know-Not-Where"), LoAR of Oct 91. (Anne-Marie d'Ailleurs, October, 1992, pg. 21)
The submitter cites hyphenated feminine names from near-period: Anne-Julienne Dumont, b.1646 (Lorraine), and Jeanne-Marie DuBois, who bore a son in 1640 (Angouleme). (Dictionnaire Genealogique des Families Canadiennes) These being within our 50-year "grey area" for documentation, they support this form as a late-period French name. (Nicole-Julienne Laviolette, December, 1992, pg. 14)
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The use of the Russian given name with the French epithet is in apparent violation of Rule III.2. We need evidence of regular period contact between Russia and France before we can register this name. (Marina la Perdu, January, 1993, pg. 34)
This submission was an appeal of a return by the Ansteorran College for non-period style. The submitter contends that the phrase la Tisserande des Mots ("the weaver of words") could only be interpreted metaphorically, so its literal meaning is beside the point; and that a person "of poetic inclination" would have described herself by such a metaphor.
Unfortunately, the submitter has provided no evidence that period bynames were ever so fanciful or metaphoric. In both English and French, bynames are usually straightforward descriptions: of origin, of personal description, of trade or craft. Even a professional bard would call himself simply bard. Without some evidence that "abstract metaphor" was used in period bynames, the name cannot be accepted.
Even accepting the submitter's argument at face value, the construction's literal meaning ("weaver of words") doesn't yield a valid metaphor for her desired meaning ("poet, storyteller"). The concept of weaving is used in several metaphors, but always referring to the final product: the OED (under "weave" and "weaver") cites period examples of weaving allegory, history, and woe; post-period metaphors refer to weaving tales, fables and songs. In every case, the metaphor involves the final product, not the materials used: a "weaver of words" might possibly be an inventor of new words, but never a poet or storyteller. In any case, we would need hard evidence of that usage in French before we could register the byname. (Lynette la Tisserande des Mots, June, 1993, pg. 17)
[Clemence d'Avignon] The anti-popes of Avignon do not seem to have exercised the same secular authority there that their Roman counterparts did in the Vatican; and the legitimate Popes who made Avignon their seat did so as the guests of the Counts of Provence. (1911 E.Brit., vol.iii, p.64, and vol.xx, pp.702-704) The name thus does not conflict with those Popes in Avignon (real and anti-) named Clement. (Cala of Savatthi, August, 1993, pg. 11)
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