three masculine Italian names (Alvis, Masseo & Monaldo)
I am currently reading a book about the life of St. Francis who lived from 1181/1182 to 1226 in Italy.
In the book men named Monaldo, Masseo and Alvis were mentioned.
Do you have any further information about these three names?
vote up1vote down

Replies

Alvis seems very close to Alvise, which is in BtN's database as a variant of Louis.This page here:
http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/pisa/pisa-given-freq.html
explains Masseo as a variant of Matteo.Not sure about Monaldo. It has a sound as of Germanic origin. This page here of questionable reliability:
http://www.italia-mia.it/nomi/monaldo.asp
seems to hint at a combination of Old High German words munt and waltan, but I could not find a corresponding German name Mundwald which should probably result, only a Old High German common word 'mundwald' with a meaning of 'guardian' or 'custodian'.
vote up1vote down
Thank you!I thought Masseo could be related to Matteo but could not find it. Thank you very much!
vote up1vote down
Alvis is also in the database.Next time, search.
vote up1vote down
That was not helpful.I think Rene did explain it very well.
vote up1vote down
Indeed. Did you also *read* the etymology of Alvis? I thought it not very probable that somebody in 12th century Italy has a name with a Norse origin, like the name Alvis, written thus and in the database.Alvise, on the other hand, is still in use today in Italy.
vote up1vote down