Poméline (and in modern times in French,
Pommeline) is a name from Italian origin:
Pomellina. This name is relied with the duchy of Genoa in 14th and 15th c., in which there are some women called Pomellina:
Pomellina Adorno (1355-1410/11), dux of Genoa Gabriele Adorno's daugther and marquis of Zuccarello Carlo I Diego's wife
Pomellina Amandola (15th-16th c.), Genoese patrician Niccolò Amandola's daughter and Geonese patrician Giacomo Saluzzo's wife
Pomellina Grimaldi, Genoese banker Niccolò Grimaldi's daugther and Genoese citizen Baldassare Lomellino's wife
Pomellina Rebuffo (15th c.), Genoese patrician Ambrogio Rebuffo's daughter and Anziano di Canale's wife
Pomellina d'Albania (recorded in 1454), Genoese citizen Francesco d'Arduinis di Novara's wife
Probably the name was very popular, but the records which are online only offers me these examples.
The name comes from the Italian
pomella, "apple" in some Italian dialects, "red berry of thorny bushes" in Venetian (I am not be able to identify correctly which one (or which ones) "red berry" is the
pomella in Venetian) and variant of
pomello, "grapefruit" in some other Italian dialects. The term
pomella comes from
poma, "apple".
The name appeared in Monaco because of Pomellina Campo Fregoso (1387/88-1462/68 ) (John I Grimaldi's wife and Catalan Grimaldi's mother) where it was adapted in French as Pomelline and later as Poméline.
From Monaco the name voyaged to France, where it was considered a variant of
Pome, a saint's name (saint Nummius of Châlon-sur-Marne's sister), and where it was attracted by the word
pomme, "apple" (just as the name
Pome, which evolved to
Pomme as variant):
Poméline became
Pommeline.
In last years, the name has had a revival (in France, basically) because it is Charlotte of Monaco's third name.
Lumia
http://onomastica.mailcatala.comThis message was edited 7/30/2007, 2:07 PM