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Mereswith

Discussion of the name

Mereswith is a feminine Old English name formed from the elements mere (‘sea’) and swīð (‘strong’). Neither element was extensively used in the late Anglo-Saxon period, but swīð had been much more productive in earlier centuries (Okasha 2011: 61). No other woman of this precise name has been recorded, and von Feilitzen (1937: 327) was inclined to think that the DB example was the Continental Germanic name Mereswith. There is no real reason, however, to suppose that such a minor landowner as Mereswith 2 had a Continental name, and an OE derivation is much to be preferred.

Bibliography

Okasha 2011: Elisabeth Okasha, Women’s Names in Old English (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011)

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: Meresuuet

Spellings in Exon: Meresuuit

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Meresuuet

  Phillimore edition: Mereswith

  Alecto edition: Mereswet

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 Somerset	Phil. ref. 21,24	Vill Chilton Trivett	DB Spelling Meresuuet	Holder 1066 Mereswith 'of Chilton Trivett'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Roger de Courseulles	1086 Subtenant Ansketil the parker	Fiscal Value 0.50	1066 Value 2.00	1086 Value 2.00	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

People of this name

• Mereswith 2 - Mereswith ‘of Chilton Trivett’ (Som.), fl. 1066