dsp and dssp were commonly used in the Middle Ages and early colonial times. Latin was the "language of the cultured classes" and so abbreviations of all kinds were used. "sans" being the Latin word for "without." Of course, Norman French would have been fairly similar.
Peasants weren't concerned about keeping track of their children and grandchildren except orally as most couldn't read nor write. People could make a good living as a scribe, writing letters for people who hadn't been taught how to write.
Church law and legal estates, etc, were all concerned about titled people with and without children. Who would succeed to an elite position? First surviving sons received most of the land from their parents. Second and later sons went into the military or navy or the church. They were the ones who could be adventurous. Daughters were married off to improve one's political or economic well-being.
Peers who died without progeny had to will their land and possessions to others as they had no children of their own to whom they could will things. Of course, lives were short, Many men died in battle. Many died of illnesses which seem to become more prominent as people were becoming more packed in villages and towns. Many parents had many children as both infant and childhood deaths were all too common.
