[80.A], Aprilios [32.D, F], Arsakes (of Armenian origin) [159], Blasios [32.K], Constantine [32.I, 101], Demetrios [33.B], Eustathios [32.D], George [33.A], John [25, 33.F, 33.I, possibly 115], John Pankitzes [32.I], Leo [5, 32.A, 32.E], Leon(?) Kephalas [33.E], Magelpotus [84], Michael [33.G], Michael the African [154.A], Michael Korkouas [154.A], Nikodemos [114.A], Porphyrios [72.A], Stratigoules [32.J], Theodosius [83], Theophylact [32.A], and Vincent [32.G, 115]. The few female names recorded between the ninth and eleventh centuries are Anastasia [32.H], Anna [32.B], Chrysolea [32.A], Maria [33.J], T(h)ecla [25], and possibly Veneria [146.A].51
Among Christians who left a visible record of piety, presence, or death there are names that are Greek, Latin, Armenian, and Germanic in origin, but also many universal Christian names. John is the most commonly attested name in inscriptions, epitaphs, and graffiti between the ninth and eleventh centuries, and this accords with the “supremacy of John” noted by scholars who rely primarily on written texts.52 However, the other popular male names—Leo, Michael, and Constantine—differ slightly from those other results, in which Nicholas was second to John in popularity, followed by Leo and Constantine.53 What factors might explain the local preference for Michael rather than Nicholas? While the cult of Nicholas was diffused in southern Italy under Byzantine domination long before the Norman translation of his remains to Bari in 1087,54 it appears that the personal name followed more slowly, at least among the social classes documented in epitaphs and wall paintings.55 Michael had been enormously popular among the Lombards (or Longobards) as their regional patron saint, with his cult site at Montesantangelo in northern Apulia, although his name was not especially common.56 However, Michael had a much longer history than Nicholas of being depicted in Byzantine wall paintings, and he was included in prayers as a miracle worker and intercessor at the Last Judgment.57 It is probably his long-standing association with healing and battling demonic forces that accounts for Michael’s earlier popularity as an augurial name.58 Nevertheless, in the succeeding centuries Nicholas would become one of the two most common South Italian male names and one of its most important iconographic subjects.59
A few surnames are used in the Byzantine and early Norman era, for men only:60 Leo Kephalas [33.E], John Pankitzes [32.I], Michael Korkouas [154.A]. These early surnames belong to residents of the southernmost part of the region who enjoyed an elevated social level as bishop,61 priest, and church builder. The Kephalas family produced the emperor Basil I and were benefactors of Mount Athos.62 The Korkouas were notaries in Taranto whose relatives held high office in Constantinople.63 The mere fact of having a surname in the eleventh century underscores the individual’s high social status, as such names begin to appear in significant numbers only in the thirteenth century.64
Two of the early named individuals reveal information about their geographic origins, albeit not in the form of a surname. Michael “the African” must have traced his roots to North Africa [154.A];65 Michael Korkouas “of Corone” hailed from Messenia in the Peloponnese. Additional inhabitants of the Peloponnese were transferred to Byzantine Longobardia under Leo VI,66 and connections between southern Greece and southern Italy are also evidenced by imported ceramics.67
Christian Names, Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries
A great increase in the variety of men’s first names and the quantity of surnames occurs in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. Not only does the name stock more than triple, but the number of attestations of many popular names multiplies noticeably: Agnus [58.B], Antony [143.E, 157.A], Asotes (of Armenian origin) [111], Azzolinus de Nestore [78.A], Bailardus [21.A, 78.C], Bartholomew [22.F], Basil [104, 153.A], Bastianus (Sebastian) [94.C], Benedict [109.A, 143.B], Bisardus [78.C], Blasius [94.E], Bosos [44.A], Calogerius [92.A], Ceccarius [66.C], Constantine [158], Cosmas [144], Cyriakus [4], Cyril [61.A], Daniel [54, 109.A], Demetrios [43.A], Dionysos [143.E], Dominic [51], Dominic de Juliano [39], Donadeus [4, 35], Dymenos [107], Espeditos [94.M], Formosus [57], Gaycierius [28.T], George [4, 24.B, 37, 55, 110, 157.G], George Longo [4], Giraldus [140.D, 144], Godfredus [57], Gosfridus [78.C], Grisius [69.A], Guarino Montefusco [48], Guidonis [21.C], Hugh [2], Iacobinus [27.A], Iaquintus [94.B, 116.A–B], Ioannikios [144], James [110], James Pipinos [80.B], John [1, 4 (x2), 36, 38, 65.A, 66.I, 76.A, 87.A, 93.B, 94.K, 96, 114.B, 141, 143.A, 143.E], John de Andrea [26.A], John Crispulus [76.A], Jonathan [86.C–D, F–G], Laurence [157.G], Laurence Vetanus [79.A], Leo [66.F, 73.B, 88.A, 94.J],Leonard [91.A], Luke [144], Magerius [93.A], Magi—os [49],Maraldus [142.A], Mari [31], Mark [66.A], Matthew [22.F, 79.C], Ma(tthias?) [95], Michael [94.K], N—Melitinos [1], Nicholas [1, 43.A, 45.A, 73.B, 79.C, 87.A, 94.A, 108.A, 161], Nicholas Castaldo [26.C], Nicholas de Marra [28.W], Nicholas Ferriaci [156.A],Nicholas Markiantos [36], Nicholas Palia [23.B], Pantoleon/Pantaleon [49, 86.C–D, 105], Paul [30], Peregrinus/Pellegrinus [36, 114.F],68 Peter [21.C, 66.H, 94.I, 117.A], Peter Stea [94.F], Petroius [140.C], Pigonatios [45.A], Raimondo del Balzo [48], Radelchis [66.D], Richard [144], Rinaldus [28.A], Roger [21.B (a ruler), 38], Roger Moraville [82], Rosemannus [140.B], Sarulus [75.A, 76.C], Senatoros [64.A], Souré [43.A], Stephen [143.D, 155.A],Symeon [114.C–D], Tancred [58.A–B], Taphouros [114.C], Theodore [22.E, 46], Ursus [66.H], and Vitalius Ferriaci [156.A].
Compared to the earlier (Byzantine) period, almost three times as many women’s names from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries are preserved: Donna [Plate 18], Doulitzia [157.A], Eulalia [138.A], Gemma [4], Ioanna (or Jeanne) [157.A], Isabella [48], Kalia [157.C], Marciana [74.A], Margaret [157.I], Maria [137, 157.A], Rogaie [82], and Theokari [107]. There are Christian (and also Jewish) examples of men providing a tombstone for a dead wife and omitting her name while including their own [26.C, 121]; as in the earlier period, elision of the wife’s name is very frequent in family supplications.
There are about six times more Christian names, both male and female, for the later medieval period than for the earlier centuries because of the larger number of later monuments and their greater likelihood of preservation. The average number of inscriptions per monument is slightly larger in the early period; there are four sites with a large number of texts that signal multiple patrons, multiple identities inscribed within a single cult space.69 All of these
