I have been trying to develop a new persona. I am wanting to be a mid to late 14th century knight of Welsh descent. I want a little more freedom of form then the Templar allows. I'm thinking of the name "Rhys Coch". I want some historical accuracy, but is is for being a playton only not for reenactments. Any thoughts, wisdom or ideas on this?
I Googled the name as you typed it and came up with something in Familytreemaker. You might look at that for reference.
"View Tree for Gladice Ap Rhys CochGladice Ap Rhys Coch
Gladice Ap Rhys Coch (daughter of Rhys Coch Ap Maenerch). She married Ynir Vichan Ap Meiric, son of Meiric Ap Ynir and Eleanor Ap Ednived.
Children of Gladice Ap Rhys Coch and Ynir Vichan Ap Meiric are:
1. +Carador Ap Ynir Vichan."
Seems it goes a bit further, using the Son of and Daughter Of.
The other things are: How does it roll off your tongue? Are you comfortable saying it? Will you easily be able to correct pronunciation when people mess it up? Will it bother your character, as it would you? And will you answer to it?
The latter is one of my main criteria for creating a character name. If I can't remember it well enough to turn when it's called, it's useless.
Capt Marga
aka Jofranka Whispersteppe
aka Jeanne-Marguerite de le Laing, Viscomptess de Raazem
aka Margererite McCurran, SRG
aka Epenay Sur-Seine, Merchant Widow
aka Kaitlin Marie MacDonald, Lady Knightbridge
aka Rufina Rose Vermillion, communications officer, the Plundering Loon
aka Jeanne-Michelle Moreau, French Resistance
Etc, etc, etc
How is it pronounced?
Rhys: reese or rise
Coch: coke, coach, dim bulb
It looks nice spelled, but if it is pronounced, Rise dim bulb ... well ... yeah, I could see where proper pronounciaion is very important!
I don't intend to be rude, just pointing out a possible situation ...
Thank you both.
Betty, It would be Reese Coke heavy on the Co. No rudeness taken.
I want problems to be pointed out. I am not doing very good with it. I had a "DUH" moment today and realized that if I was of Welsh descent then I would need a strong accent. Isn't that correct? I picked the name because it is a early form of my real surname Cox and red is one of the main colors in my surcoat that I am having made.
I may be working backwards. I am trying to make a name and character to fit with the garb I am getting. I will be mid to late 1300's. I pick this date because I make my maile and prefer it to plate armor. My surcoat will be black and white with red trim around bottom and then a red cockatrice on my chest. Thoughts?
As I said I do not need a real in depth Character, Just when approached at a faire, I have a answer and something to tell the kids that like to talk to me.
A note on the surname Coch. There is evidence that the surname Coxe/Cox is the Anglicised version of Coch. I have looked through the indexes of the Public Records office for Great Britain and found several Samuel Coxes, John Coxes and Emanuel Coxes. The earliest reference I have found is 1563 and appears to be a suit over an inheritance. With the exception of one document, they all appear to have been filed in areas of Wales. In one case (1564) Samuel Coxe, a welsh tailor, filed a lawsuit against a wool dealer in a joint suit with HRM Elizabeth. (Yes that Elizabeth)
So I believe that pronouncing the name Coke or Coax or Cockes depended on whether you were in North or South Wales.
Big thanks DonaCatalina, Found the UK archive website. Wow great information