For Name: Cecily Pyckering

The name is English and intended to be feminine. Cecily is a 16th Century feminine given name, found in "Pre-1600 English Brass Inscriptions" by Julian Goodwyn.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/brasses/womenfreq.html

Cecily is listed among the top 50 women's names for the 1560s and 1570s in Names and Naming Patterns in England 1538-1700, by Scott Smith-Bannister (Oxford Historical Monographs, Clarendon Press, 1997, ISBN 0-19-820663-1)
As found in "Faire Names for English Folk" by Chris Laning.
http://www.mygen.com/users/outlaw/English%20Names%20of%20the%201500s%20-%20Outlawe.htm

Pyckering is an English surname dating to 1559, found in "Names in Chesham, 1538-1600/1" by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/chesham/chesham-surnames-3.html


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Thanks so much for your suggestions! As you see below, I'm trying them out.

Finalists are here.


For Device (click for enlargement and blazon):

Preference: 3
Might just be a little too plain.
Preference: 2
Clean and simple without being too plain.
Preference: 3
May be too plain.
Preference: 1
This one combines personal symbolism with a classic look.
Preference: 4
May be too plain.
Preference: 2
(I keep changing between 2 and 3.)
I -love- the way this looks, but it may be too modern.
Preference: 2
I don't quite like this as much as the orle version, but it still has that look.
Preference: 2
This one is clean and simple without being too plain. More round.
Preference: 4
Evokes the feeling of the claddagh. I might get tired of this after a time. (Made husband think of engagement ring; made kids think of butt cheeks.)
Preference: 5
This one is still my favorite. It visually pleases me the most and contains all my personal symbolism. However, I do see the Heralds' point that the look is not so Medieval.


For Badge (click for enlargement and blazon):

Preference: 1
I can already see this all over my stuff.
Preference: 3
Makes me think of grapes.
Preference: 2
Very neat, but I don't want to have to draw it all the time.
Preference: 5
Blah.
Preference: 4
Blah.
Preference: 2
I like it very much but am not convinced I will like it forever.
Preference: 5
I am -so- not fiddling around with this level of detail.
Symbolism:
  • Black - constancy
  • Horse's head - liberty, especially emphasized in that the horse is unbridled
  • Heart - sincerity (in popular culture love as well)
  • Nails with a heart - evocative of Passion Nails, meaning poignant suffering
  • Nails in annulo - protection
  • Strawberries - fidelity
  • Three - Pagan progression of life: maiden, mother, and crone