ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3363
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3363
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9 Nov 2008
From: "Melissa Barton" 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for our opinion of <Michael the Warder> as a name for an
Englishman in 1198. Here is what we found.

The Latin <Michael> and <Michaelis> are both recorded from the 12th
century. The vernacular form <Michel> is recorded as a patronymic in
1219 and 1236 for the sons of <Michael de Middelton>[1].  While
<Michael> is suitable for a documentary name or as a use-name in
educated circles, <Michel> would have been more commonly used.
<Michel> was pronounced approximately \MEE-tchel\.

The word <warder>, used in the sense of 'one who wards or guards', is
a borrowing from French and seems to have been a relatively late
borrowing.  The earliest example we have been able to find is from
about 1400 [2]. However, there are a number of attested bynames with the
same meaning, some of them quite similar in form.

The byname <Warde> is recorded in 1194, from Old English <weard>
'watchman, guard'.   The byname <de la Warda> 1176, also found as
<de la Warde> 1203, probably meant 'of the watch, watchman', though it
 may have meant 'at the beacon'.

Another possibility is <Waite> 1170 or <le Wayte> 1221, a byname from
Old Northern French <waite> 'watchman', either in a fortified place or in a
town[4].  <Wakeman> 1200 and <le Wakeman> 1225, from Middle
English <wake> 'watch, vigil' and <man>, is another byname meaning
'watchman'[5].

To summarize, some possible documentary forms include:

<Michael de la Warde>
<Michaelis de la Warde>
<Michael le Waite>
<Michaelis le Waite>
<Michael le Wakeman>
<Michaelis le Wakeman>

And some possible vernacular forms are:

<Michel Warde>
<Michel Waite>
<Michel Wakeman>

I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part
of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Talan Gwynek,
Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Ursula
Georges contributed to this letter.

For the Academy,

Leonor Ruiz de Lison
9 November 2008

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References

[1] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995); s.n.
<Michael>.

[2] --, _The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary_ (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1973); s.v. <warder>.

[3] Reaney & Wilson, op. cit. s.n. <Ward>.

[4] Ibid. s.n. <Wait>.

[5] Ibid. s.n. <Wakeman>.