The name of Joan of Arc at birth remains shrouded in mystery, hidden beneath the layers of history and the passage of time.
Despite the best efforts of historians and researchers, the inconsistencies in record keeping and the differences in contemporary customs make it impossible to say for certain what name she was given at birth.
However, this uncertainty has only served to add to the legend of Joan of Arc, the young warrior who fearlessly led the French army to victory and became a martyr for her faith.
Even without knowing her true name, her legacy as a fearless and devout Catholic remains unshakeable, inspiring generations to come.
How can it be that her birth name is not known?
Joan of Arc did not hail from the place she is named after – instead, she was born and raised in the small village of Domrémy. The repetition of her first name in English as “Joan” dates back to the fifteenth century, as it was the only English equivalent for the feminine form of “John” during her lifetime. Her surviving signatures all spell her name as “Jehanne” without a surname.
The surname of Arc is a translation of d’Arc, a nineteenth-century French approximation of her father’s name. However, apostrophes were never used in fifteenth-century French surnames, leading to confusion between names of places and other names that begin with the letter “D”. According to Latin records, her father’s name was likely “Darc.”
In the fifteenth century, a time when surnames were not universal and inheritance patterns were different from today, Joan of Arc testified at her trial that girls in her region used their mothers’ surnames.
However, no records from her lifetime confirm which surname she used. She was known as “la Pucelle,” or the Maiden, and this is how she often referred to herself.
The lack of surviving records and the differing customs of the time make it difficult to determine her exact surname.
In 1847, English historian wrote about the confusion behind Joan of Arc’s birth name.
“Now, the worshipful reason of modern France for disturbing the old received spelling, is–that Jean Hordal, a descendant of La Pucelle’s brother, spelled the name Darc, in 1612. But what of that? Beside the chances that M. Hordal might be a gigantic blockhead, it is notorious that what small matter of spelling Providence had thought fit to disburse amongst man in the seventeenth century, was all monopolized by printers: in France, much more so.”
Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us!
🙏
