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A Brief, Incomplete, and Rather Stopgap Article about European Household and Other Group Names Before 1600

Introduction

The kinds of names used for organized groups of people in the Middle Ages and early Early Modern period varied hugely depending not only on the kind of group (household, ruling noble family/dynasty, craft guild, military unit, etc.) but also on the specific time period, culture, and language. Naming patterns used in one time and culture were not necessarily also used in another time and culture, and within the same time, culture, and language, naming patterns used for one kind of group were not necessarily also used for another kind of group. For example, the naming patterns used for ruling noble families in 16th century England (in English) were not the same as the naming patterns used for ruling noble families in 16th century Scotland in Gaelic, nor did ruling noble families and craft guilds use the same naming patterns in 16th century England, and so on.

This article seeks to provide at least a brief discussion, with relevant evidence, of some naming patterns known to be used for some organized groups of people within some specific times, cultures, and languages within Europe before 1600. It is not at all comprehensive, and many times, cultures, languages, and naming patterns are not covered. Where a more comprehensive article is known to exist, whether for a naming pattern, time, culture, and/or language, that article is linked to in lieu of any discussion here. Ideally, some day, this article should be completely replaced by such articles, but until then it is offered on a "better than nothing" basis...

(If you know of an article that should replace any of the sections of this article, or one covering a time, culture, language, and/or naming pattern not yet covered, please contact me and let me know!)

Index

• England
  • Various Using the Word "House" (in this article) 15 Mar 2007
  • Households (in this article) 3 Mar 2007
  • Inns
    • See English Sign Names by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (Kathleen M. O'Brien)
    • See Scottish Inn and Tavern Names by Sharon L. Krossa (which includes at the end some English inn names)
  • Knightly Orders
    • See Medieval Names of Some Knightly Orders by Ursula Georges
    • See Secular Orders, 1604 by Ursula Georges
  • Military Units
    • See Naming the Honourable Artillery Company by ?
    • See Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 2442 (or alternative URL)
  • Manors (in this article) 14 Mar 2007
  • Ships
    • See Merchant Ship Names in the 13th-15th centuries by Sara L. Uckelman
    • See Ship Names from 1480-01 by Maridonna Benvenuti (Andrea Hicks)
• France
  • Knightly Orders
    • See Medieval Names of Some Knightly Orders by Ursula Georges
  • Ships
    • See Merchant Ship Names in the 13th-15th centuries by Sara L. Uckelman
    • See Ship Names from 1480-01 by Maridonna Benvenuti (aka Andrea Hicks)
• Gaelic (Ireland and Scotland)
  • See Medieval Gaelic Clan, Household, and Other Group Names by Sharon L. Krossa
• Germany
  • Ships
    • See Merchant Ship Names in the 13th-15th centuries by Sara L. Uckelman
    • See Ship Names from 1480-01 by Maridonna Benvenuti (aka Andrea Hicks)
• Hungary
  • See Medieval Names of Some Knightly Orders by Ursula Georges
• Ireland
  • See Medieval Gaelic Clan, Household, and Other Group Names by Sharon L. Krossa
• The Netherlands
  • Ships
    • See Merchant Ship Names in the 13th-15th centuries by Sara L. Uckelman
    • See Ship Names from 1480-01 by Maridonna Benvenuti (aka Andrea Hicks)
    • See Names of Ships in the VOC between 1595 and 1650 by Sara L. Uckelman
• Portugal
  • See Ship Names from 1480-01 by Maridonna Benvenuti (aka Andrea Hicks)
• Scotland
  • Gaelic-speaking/Highland Scotland
    • See Medieval Gaelic Clan, Household, and Other Group Names by Sharon L. Krossa
    • Clans (in Scots) (in this article) 3 Oct 2008
  • Scots-speaking/Lowland Scotland
    • Clans (in Scots) (in this article) 3 Oct 2008
    • See Scottish Inn and Tavern Names by Sharon L. Krossa
• Spain
  • See Medieval Names of Some Knightly Orders by Ursula Georges
• Wales
  • See Period Welsh Models for SCA Households and the Nomenclature Thereof by Heather Rose Jones

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