Dictionary of Medieval Names
from European Sources
☙

Petronilla f. A fem. dim. of Latin Petronius, a Roman nomen possibly derived from Latin petra, from Ancient Greek πέτρα 'a rock, stone'.

The name of a apocryphal virgin martyr and a 12th C queen of Aragon.

Because of the supposed derivation from the same root as Peter, in the Middle Ages, Petronilla was the more common feminine form of that, as opposed to the actual feminine form, Petra.

Belgium
Dutch
● 1597x1598 Petronella BoonenGes p. 349, Petronilla ibid. p. 335
England
Latin
● 1279–80 Petronilla (nom) WaHR-SK p. 41, Pretronilla (nom) ibid. p. 46; 1296 Petronella (nom) RCS-1 p. 92b, Petronilla (nom) ibid. p. 92b, Petronille (gen) ibid. p. 92b; 1340xc1450 Petronilla (nom) CovGuild-1 p. 29; 1377 Petronilla (nom) FenPT-2 p. 5; 1379 Petronilla (nom) WRYPT1 p. 3; 1381 Petronilla (nom) Suffolk1381 p. 69
Early Modern English
● 1555 Petronill bruton1 p. 27; 1556 Petronylle BarnstapleBap p. 9; 1558 Petronill bruton1 p. 110; 1559 Parnella BUmar-vol2 p. 60, Petronell bruton1 p. 30; 1563 Peternell COmar-vol2 p. 47; 1568 Petroinel bruton1 p. 5; 1574 Parnell BEmar-vol1 p. 9; 1576 Pernell SaxhamSf p. 3; 1579/80 Purnell RegBisham p. 4; 1583 Peternell COmar-vol5 p. 7; 1587 Parnell DEmar-vol2 p. 14; 1589 Parnell ibid. p. 18, Petronell bruton1 p. 49; 1593 Peternel DEmar-vol2 p. 26; 1594 Peternel ibid. p. 29; 1599 Parnell ibid. p. 40, Peternell ibid. p. 43
France
Latin
● 814 Petronella (nom) StVdM-II G4; 11thC Petronilla (nom) St-Barnard-Romans no. 115; 1062 Petronilla (nom) StVdM-II 692; 1147 Petronilla (abl) clairvaux-12thc 18; 1179 Petronilla (abl) ibid. 176; 1180 Petronille (gen) RotScaNor p. 5; 1231 Petronilla (abl) NDParisII 2-LXXXVIII; 1259 Petronilla (nom) ArrestReg-volI XXI, Pentecost, Petronillam (acc) ibid. XXI, Pentecost, Petronille (gen) ibid. XXI, Pentecost; 1270 Petronilla (nom) NDParisII 2-XLI; 1273 Petronilla (nom) ibid. 2-XLIII, RegToul-13thC p. 21, Petronillam (acc) ibid. p. 23; 1274 Petronille (gen) ibid. p. 56; 1301 Petronilla (nom) MemPic-vol17 p. 248
Old French
● 1291 Perronnele (nom) StOuen p. 24; 1292 Perrenelle (obl) HistHdVParis p. 115; 1293 Pernelle (obl) ibid. p. 124, Perrenelle (obl) ibid. p. 124; 1296 Perrenele paris1296 p. 2; c1298 Parenelle (obl) HistHdVParis p. 137, Perrenelle (obl) ibid. p. 137; 1299 Perrenelle (obl) ibid. p. 148; 1313 Perronelle Paris1313 p. 1, Perronnelle ibid. p. 38; 1327 Pernelle MemDocMan-2 p. 190
Germany
Early New High German
● 1497 Peternella Nurn1497 304
Italy
Latin
● 1366 Peronella (nom) Livi 11
Spain
Catalan
● 1510 Patronilla valencia1510 2213
Spanish
● 1576 Petronila Catalogo-5.2 3914
Switzerland
Latin
● 1220 Petronilla (nom) CartHaut 36
Cite as: S.L. Uckelman. "Petronilla". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Petronilla.