Top of page Discussion Bibliography Forms Distribution Map Property List People of this Name Bottom of page

Megenlioba

Discussion of the name

Megenlioba is a Continental Germanic feminine name comprising the elements magan ‘strength, power’ and leuba ‘dear, beloved’; it is almost certainly the name underlying the anglicized DB form Menleua because the context (see Megenlioba 2 below) both requires a feminine name and occurs in close proximity to the CG name Fulcard and because an equivalent Old English form *Mægenleofu is not on record (Förstemann 1900: 1018-19, 1071, 1078; von Feilitzen 1937: 327; Morlet 1968: 166; cf. Insley et al. 2007: 137). It is likely, as von Feilitzen (1937: 327; cf. 88) implies, that the anglicization occurred via some intermediate form such as *Meinliofa; for a probable (albeit masculine) parallel cf. Manleof, a moneyer active at Exeter 1038-42.

There are no pre-Domesday occurrences of this name in the PASE corpus.

Bibliography

Förstemann 1900: E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch. Erster Band: Personennamen (Bonn, 1900)

Insley et al. 2007: J. Insley and D. Rollason with P. McClure, ‘A.3 English Dithematic Names’, in The Durham Liber Vitae. London, British Library, MS Cotton Domitian A.VII: Edition and Digital Facsimile with Introduction, Codicological, Prosopographical and Linguistic Commentary, and Indexes, ed. D. W. Rollason and L. Rollason, 3 vols. (London: British Library, 2007), ii, 81–165

von Feilitzen 1937: Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksells, 1937)

Morlet 19868: M-T. Morlet, Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l’Ancienne Gaule du VI^e au XII^e Siècle (Paris, 1968)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Menleua

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Menleua

  Phillimore edition: Menleva

  Alecto edition: Megenlioba

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire	Phil. ref.	Vill	DB Spelling	Holder 1066	Lord 1066	Tenant-in-Chief 1086	1086 Subtenant	Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value	Conf.	Show on Map
Shire Suffolk	Phil. ref. 35,7	Vill Mellis	DB Spelling Menleua	Holder 1066 Megenlioba 'of Mellis'	Lord 1066 Wulfwine, antecessor of Aubrey de Vere	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Aubrey de Vere	1086 Subtenant Adelelm the man of Aubrey de Vere	Fiscal Value 0.12	1066 Value 0.40	1086 Value 0.40	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

People of this name

• Megenlioba 2 - Megenlioba ‘of Mellis’ (Suffolk), fl. 1066