Mid-Week Mini: The Tiffany Problem

In this week’s Mid-Week Mini Episode, we talk about The Tiffany Problem

If I told you that a woman named Tiffany attended a medieval banquet in the year 1200, most people would assume I was joking. Tiffany sounds like a modern name. It sounds like a name that belongs in a high school yearbook from the 1980s, not in the Middle Ages.

But that’s the Tiffany Problem.

Writers, historians, and game designers use the phrase to describe situations in which something is historically accurate but feels completely wrong because it clashes with our modern expectations. The name Tiffany is probably the most famous example.

The name can be traced back to the Greek name Theophania, which means “manifestation of God.” It became associated with the Christian feast of Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Magi. Over time, variations of the name spread throughout Europe.

Medieval records from England include women named Tiffania, Tyffany, and other closely related spellings as early as the 12th century. One researcher famously documented dozens of examples in English records dating back to the 1100s and 1200s. In other words, a woman named Tiffany living during the Crusades wasn’t unusual at all.

The problem is that most of us don’t associate the name with the Middle Ages. We associate it with jewelry stores, movies, and a wave of popularity that peaked in the late 20th century. Our brains automatically place Tiffany in the same category as names like Brittany, Ashley, and Jennifer.

The Tiffany Problem extends far beyond names. Imagine a Roman soldier eating fast food from a street vendor. Ancient Rome had them. Imagine a Viking carrying a silk garment imported from Asia. Archaeological evidence suggests that happened, too.

There are dozens of examples throughout history in which the facts don’t match the mental images we’ve built from movies, television, novels, and popular culture. Historians deal with this constantly because accuracy and familiarity aren’t always the same thing.

Writers run into the problem in historical fiction. If a novelist accurately includes a medieval character named Tiffany, readers may assume the author made a mistake. The writer then faces a choice: remain historically accurate or change the name to avoid distracting the audience.

Once you learn about the Tiffany Problem, you’ll start noticing it everywhere. You’ll find yourself questioning whether something is actually inaccurate or whether it just feels inaccurate because of the way we’ve been taught to imagine the past.

The next time you hear a fact that sounds too modern to be true, it might be worth taking another look. History doesn’t always fit the pictures we’ve drawn in our minds, and sometimes the most unbelievable details are the ones supported by the historical record.

And the internet says it’s True.