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Sarazine

I came across the girls name Sarazine while researching Eschiva in connection to Melusine and Melisende. One source gives alternate spelling options that may have been used: Sarrasine, Sarasine, and Sarrazene. Other records have the spellings Saracen, Saracena and Sarazina. The pronunciation seems to obviously point to SERRA-zeen, and seems French in origin. Another possibility is the meaning "Saracen," which is what another source of the name historically points to. Saracen was a word used in medieval times to describe a Muslim population.

Sarazine of Armenia, born Sarazine Lezay in about 1067, was married to Hugh VII le brun of Lusignan lineage, and they had at least one child. She may have been the widow of Robert I, count of Sanseverino.

Sarrasine is also a novella by Honore de Balzac published in 1930. In this, Sarrasine is the surname of a male character. Also, Sarazin Blake is a male singer-songwriter.

None of the spelling options mentioned have been used in the U.S. in 2016.

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