SENA, Personal Names Part 2, Style
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PN.2. Personal Names Style http:heraldry.sca.org/sena.html#PN2 #PN2AA. Definitions: A name phrase is a complete given name or byname with associated prepositions, articles and the like. It is defined more thoroughly in [[2]] above, which deals with the construction of name phrases. A naming pool refers to the group of name phrases that are in use in a particular time and place. These naming pools are organized into regional naming groups, each of which includes a group of naming pools that are geographically and culturally linked. These regional naming groups are used to determine whether name phrases can be combined in a registerable name. The list of established regional groups is listed in Appendix C. #PN2BB. Name Phrase Requirements: A registerable personal name must be made up of at least two name phrases: a given name and at least one byname (which may appear to be a second given name). While it is easy to document individuals who are identified only with a single given name, we do not allow the registration of single element personal names. Individuals may use those names, but may not register them. Each name phrase must be grammatically correct for its position in a name. In some languages, spelling changes are used to indicate aspects of relationships in bynames. Some languages capitalize some bynames, but consistently use lower case for others. For example, because of the way Gaelic grammar works, the byname mac Fearchair// 'son of Fearchar' must be changed to //mhic Fhearchair// when it occurs after another byname of the form //mac X// (i.e., when your father was the son of Fearchar). So, the son of //Donnchadh mac Fearchair// would be //Fionn mac Donnchaidh mhic Fhearchair//. For example, most Norse descriptive bynames are consistently in lower case. Thus, //Halla// the skald would be //Halla skaldkona//, not //Halla Skaldkona. #PN2CC. Name Requirements: A name submission must be consistent with the standards laid out in this section for temporal and geographical compatibility. The position of each name phrase in the overall name must be shown to be appropriate for that type of name phrase in its language and cultural tradition. Some patterns for name grammar in important European languages can be found in Appendix A. Any pattern found there does not need further documentation; a reference to Appendix A will be sufficient. Other patterns require documentation. For example, there is evidence for names in Spanish with two bynames in certain patterns. One pattern is a patronymic byname followed by a placename, as in Ruy Diaz de Bivar//. That would justify //Juan Perez de Madrid//, but would not support the registration of //Juan de Madrid Perez. In addition, the name as a whole must follow a period pattern for personal names. Any name must follow the pattern described in one of the two sections below. #PN2C11. Culturally Uniform Names: A culturally uniform name matches a pattern of the grammar of names for a single time and place, such as fourteenth century England. This requires that the overall pattern be documented to a particular time and place, in addition to each name phrase meeting the standards set out in PN.1 and PN.2.B above. This documentation may be a reference to Appendix A. #PN2C22. Culturally Mixed Names: Names that mix name phrases from different times and/or places are allowed if the name meets one of the following conditions. >> #PN2C2aa. The name mixes name phrases, dated to within 500 years of one another, either found in a single regional naming group as listed in Appendix C, or else from a single language not listed in Appendix C. [updated per November 2013 Cover Letter] >> #PN2C2bb. The name mixes name phrases from two regional naming groups that are listed in Appendix C as combinable and those name phrases are dated to within 300 years of one another. >> >> Names that combine more than two regional naming groups or that combine two regional naming groups that are not listed as combinable will not be allowed under this rule (though they may be registered under the allowances in sections c and d below). >> #PN2C2cc. The name mixes name phrases from naming pools that can be documented as having been used together in the personal names of real people; for such combinations, the name phrases must be within 300 years of one another (and within 300 years of the documented examples). For such documentation, at least three period examples must be included in which the names can only be understood as combining from separate naming pools. The borrowing of names from one naming pool into another is not sufficient to demonstrate this, nor is the translation of names into another language. >> #PN2C2dd. A name which includes name phrases documented under the legal name allowance, the grandfather clause, or the branch name allowance follows special rules. These name phrases are treated as neutral in language and time. Such name phrases may be combined with name phrases from a single regional naming group dated to within 500 years of one another. They may not be combined with name phrases from two or more regional naming groups. If a name phrase can also be documented as either an attested or constructed name, it may be treated in whichever way is more favorable for registration. >> In addition, if a grandfathered name phrase was found in a registered name that combined languages from two or more regional naming groups, the new submission may combine those same regional naming groups. If this allowance is used, then no new regional naming group may be added. #PN2DD. Names Not Recorded in a Latin Script: Names will only be registered in the Latin script, so that both heralds and the populace can easily read them. Thus, we will not register Norse names in runes, Russian names in Cyrillic, Japanese names in kanji, and so on. Submitters are encouraged to use those names in the original scripts for other purposes. Names and name phrases that would not have been written in a Latin script are treated for purposes of registration as if they are created in the relevant script (Norse, Arabic, Russian, etc.). They are then transcribed for registration into the Latin script following a single orthographic system, which may include common diacritics such as ó (o with an acute accent), ligatures such as æ (ash, representing {ae}), and other characters such as þ (thorn, representing the unvoiced {th} sound). Names that mix two orthographic systems for transcription are not allowed because some systems use the same letters to represent different sounds, which creates confusion. This includes the use (or lack) of accents in a name – their usage should be consistent. A list of acceptable transliteration systems for some languages can be found in Appendix D. The use of a transliteration system not listed there must be justified with the submission. For example, the Arabic given name often transliterated as Amina// can be equally well transliterated as //Aminah// (ending in //–ah// instead of just //–a//). In combination with the Arabic locative meaning 'of Hamdan', which is either //al-Hamadaniyya// or //al-Hamadaniyyah//, either //Amina al-Hamadaniyya// or //Aminah al-Hamadaniyyah// is registerable. However, neither //Aminah al-Hamadaniyya// or //Amina al-Hamadaniyyah is registerable, as these two mix the transliteration systems. For example, the Irish Gaelic given name Tomás//, when combined with the Irish Gaelic descriptive byname //Mór//, can be rendered either as //Tomas Mor// or as //Tomás Mór//. However, it cannot be rendered as //Tomás Mor// or //Tomas Mór, as these use the accents inconsistently. #PN2EE. Obtrusive Modernity: No name will be registered that either in whole or in part is obtrusively modern. Something is said to be obtrusively modern when it makes a modern joke or reference that destroys medieval ambience and drags the average person mentally back to the present day. Obtrusiveness can be either in the written form or when spoken. A period name that has a modern referent will not generally be considered obtrusively modern. Only extreme examples will be returned. For example, names that have been ruled obtrusively modern and hence returned include Porsche Audi//, //Artemisian Tank Corps//, and //Geky Herald// (pronounced like "Geeky Herald"). Names like //Edmond Fitzgerald//, //Red Boke Herald//, //Drew Steele//, and //Mould de Cheder have been allowed.