Names of Jews in Medieval Navarre (13th–14th Centuries)

Abstract

This paper analyses names of Jews in the rich diplomatic collection “Navarra Judaica. Documentos para la Historia de los judíos del reino de Navarra” (Juan Carrasco Pérez, Fermín Miranda García, Eloísa Ramírez Vaquero; vols. 1–3.2; 1994–1999) in an attempt to contribute to the so far little investigated area of Jewish Name Studies, that is, Medieval Names of Jews in the Iberian Peninsula. After general observations on the onomasticon of the Navarrese Jews relating to statistics, etymological layers, differences between the names of men and women, etc., special attention is paid to the first names of Jews of Latin-Romance etymology, like 'Bueno', 'Abenveniste', 'Buenastruga' (f.), 'Vita', 'Horabuena Sol' (f.), etc.; surnames or nicknames, like 'Ezquerra', 'Falaguero', 'Pesat', 'Gordo', 'Moreno', 'Amarillo', including professions like 'Argentero' or 'Peletero', etc. The primary aim of the analysis is to detect the naming mechanisms within the Navarrese Jewish community in the Mediterranean Sephardic context.