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Gos

Discussion of the name

The derivation of the name which DB gives as Gos is not certain. In that form the name is identical with the common noun gōs (‘goose’). Other bird-names were in use as personal names in eleventh-century England, presumably having originated as nicknames, including Spearhafoc (‘sparrowhawk’) and Stærling (‘starling’), and there is no compelling reason why Gos should not have been among them. The only reservation is that the goose (wild or domestic) lacks the qualities of speed and/or aggression associated with most or all of the other bird names employed in personal nomenclature.

If not ‘goose’, Gos was perhaps the CG name Gauz or Gozo, which appears in a great variety of spellings, though never specifically as Gos and normally with a vowel at the end (Forssner 1916: 129–30). The DB spelling might have been curtailed, especially as the name of the person associated with Gos (Hungifu 4) appears in DB without its final vowel. A name of CG origin might well be found in an urban setting, which is where the DB example of Gos occurs.

Attractive for other reasons is the idea that DB’s Gos was actually called Gospatric. That possibility is discussed under the profile of Gos 2.

There are no other examples of Gos currently in PASE.

Bibliography

Forssner 1916: Thorvald Forssner, Continental-Germanic Personal Names in England in Old and Middle English Times (Uppsala: K. W. Appelbergs, 1916)

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

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Gos

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Gos

  Phillimore edition: Gos

  Alecto edition: Gos

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 Huntingdonshire	Phil. ref. B14	Vill Huntingdon	DB Spelling Gos	Holder 1066 Gos 'of Huntingdon'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William, king	1086 Subtenant Judith, countess	Fiscal Value 0.00	1066 Value 0.00	1086 Value 0.00	Confidence A	Map
Shire Huntingdonshire	Phil. ref. D3	Vill Huntingdon	DB Spelling Gos	Holder 1066 Gos 'of Huntingdon'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 -	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.00	1066 Value 0.00	1086 Value 0.00	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

People of this name

• Gos 2 - Gos ‘of Huntingdon’, fl. 1066