References

Portuguese Names 1350-1450

Information about Iberian naming practices, and particularly Portuguese naming practice, is relatively difficult to find in English. This article makes available information about Portuguese names in the early fifteenth century. Fernam Lopez (modern Fernão) is one of the better known of the Portuguese chroniclers. During the first quarter of the fifteenth century, he wrote three great chronicles. They provide a glimpse into Portuguese naming practice vastly different from modern Portuguese, in some ways far more similar to Spanish. The names of 191 Portuguese men were identified in these chronicles. The names of over 200 men from Castille, Aragon, England, and other places were excluded from the sample. The large number of foreign names reflects the emphasis of the chronicle on public events, specifically the wars between Pedro of Castille and John of Gaunt, the English prince who pressed a claim to the Castillian throne on behalf of his wife, a Spanish princess. Likewise, names that do not refer to real people alive at the time (saints, fictional characters) have been excluded from the data.