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Dictionary of Medieval Names
from European Sources
☙

Germain m. Latin Germanus 'German'.

The name of a 4th C Spanish martyr, a 5th C French saint, a 5th C Breton saint, a 6th C French saint, a 7th C Swiss saint, an 8th C saint and patriarch of Constantinople.

In the 16th C, German and Jarma were used as anglicized forms of Gaelic Diarmaid (cf. Dermot), and thus some of the citations from England may reflect Irishmen immigrants.

England
Latin
● 1189 Germanus (nom) GASurv p. 166
Early Modern English
● 1543 German BarnstapleBap p. 3; 1552 Jerman ibid. p. 7; 1554 German ibid. p. 8; 1559 German ibid. p. 10, Jarma ibid. p. 10; 1560 Jerman ibid. p. 10; 1561 Jerman ibid. p. 11; 1562 German ibid. p. 12; 1585 Jermaine SaxhamSf p. 39
France
Latin
● c823 Germanus (nom) irminon-vol2 65
Old French
● 1296 Germain paris1296 p. 9; 1313 Germain Paris1313 p. 40
Middle French
● 1418 Germain HGParis p. 372; 1421 Germain favier 837; 1423 Germain ibid. 231; 1438 Germain ibid. 59
Ireland
Latin
● fin12thC Germein (nom) MunDocIr III, p. 7
Cite as: J. Uckelman, S.L. Uckelman. "Germain". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2015, no. 3. http://dmnes.org/2015/3/name/Germain.