Low German Names in Latin, 1424: Given Names in Matronymics

by Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Uckelman)

© 2012 Sara L. Uckelman; all rights reserved
last update 19Nov12

The following names are taken from the Offizium Rottum of 1424, a collection of Latin documents relating to the area of Xanten, Germany. The edition which I drew the names from presented the data by city. I have not been able to identify all of the cities on modern maps, but those which can be identified are split about equally on either side of the modern day Dutch/German border. The names are recorded in Latin, but show strong vernacular influence, which, in Xanten, was Low German, not High German (and thus the names look more like Dutch than typical German names). Because the names were recorded in Latin, they are sometimes in inflected form; I have converted all inflected forms (which are not otherwise apart of a byname) into their standard nominative forms where no uncertainty is present.

Feminine Names, by frequency

NameNumber of occurencesCities
Gysela1
    Gysela1Goterswich
Heisken1
    Heisken1Brunen
Metta1
    Metta1Aferden


Source: Wilkes, Carl, Quellen zur Rechts- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Archidiakonats und Stifts Xanten Band I, (Bonn: Verlag Ludwig Röhrscheid, 1937).