Men's Given Names from Early 13th Century England

by Talan Gwynek (Brian M. Scott)
bmscott@stratos.net


Introduction
Feminine Given Names


Men's Given Names from Early 13th Century England

The head names (in bold face) are for the most part those used by E. G. Withycombe in her Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names when she has discussed the name. In some cases I have used another modern form closer to the documentary ones, e.g., Hugo instead of Hugh and Milo instead of Miles. Warin is not a modern form, but it is not unfamiliar, and I have used it rather than the modern Warren. For names not treated by Withycombe I have chosen one of the forms from the custumals (minus any Latin case ending) as head name; such head names are italicized. The forms listed under each head name include not only spelling variants but also diminutives. If a single person's name occurs in more than one form, this fact is mentioned in the notes.

After each head name I have given the number of men who bore some form of that name, and the names are listed in descending order of these frequencies. For the names borne by at least 13 men I have also given two percentages. The first is the percentage of men listed who bore some form of that name. The second is the cumulative percentage of men listed who bore that name or a more common one. Thus, the name William and its variants and diminutives was borne by about one of every seven men listed. The five most common names accounted for almost 45% of the men. Not quite two-thirds of the men bore one of the ten most frequent names; and the 14 most popular names account for about three-quarters of the men listed. At the other end of the scale there are 41 names borne by just one man each, 15 borne by two each, and seven borne by three each; these 92 men are about 10.5% of the 877 men listed.

It should be remembered that these names are documentary forms; in many cases we cannot be sure what the spoken forms were.

The following abbreviations are used: CG = Continental Germanic; OBret = Old Breton; ODa = Old Danish; OE = Old English; OFr = Old French; OSw = Old Swedish; Scand. = Scandinavian.

William 126      (14.4%; 14.4%)
     Willelmus 125
     Guillelmus 1
Richard 91 (10.4%; 24.7%)
     Ricardus 90
     Richardus 1
John 70 (8.0%; 32.7%)
     Iohannes 68
     Johannes 2
Robert 58 (6.6%; 39.3%)
     Robertus 58
Hugo 47 (5.4%; 44.7%)
     Hugo 47
Roger 42 (4.8%; 49.5%)
     Rogerius 1
     Rogerus 41
Walter 37 (4.2%; 53.7%)
     Walterus 37
Thomas 36 (4.1%; 57.8%)
     Thomas 36
Ralph 34 (3.9%; 61.7%)      One of these is also recorded as Randulfus.
     Radulfus 34
Geoffrey 32 (3.6%; 65.3%)      One Galfridus is also recorded as Galefridus.
     Galefridus 2
     Galfridus 30
     Gaufridus 1
Henry 32 (3.6%; 69.0%)
     Henricus 32
Adam 28 (3.2%; 72.2%)
     Ada 4
     Adam 24
Peter 20 (2.3%; 74.5%)
     Petrus 20
Simon 18 (2.1%; 76.5%)
     Simon 5
     Symon 13
Nicholas 14 (1.6%; 78.1%)
     Nicholas 1
     Nicholaus 13
Alan 13 (1.5%; 79.6%)
     Alanus 13
Gilbert 13 (1.5%; 81.1%)
     Gilebertus 8
     Gilibertus 1
     Gillebertus 4
Stephen 13 (1.5%; 82.6%)
     Stephanus 13
Reginald 8
     Reginaldus 8
Alexander 7
     Alexander 6
     Sandre 1
Osbert 6
     Osbertus 4
     Osebertus 2
Randolph 6 One Randulfus is also recorded as Radulfus.
     Rand' 1
     Randulfus 3
     Ranulfus 2
Norman 5
     Norman 2
     Normannus 3
Eustace 5
     Eustacius 4
     Stacius 1
Andrew 4
     Andreas 4
Arnold 4 One Arnaldus = Arnold.
     Arnaldus 2
     Arnold 1
     Ernaldus 1
     Ernoldus 1
Godfrey 4
     Godefridus 4
Herbert 4
     Herbertus 4
Warin 4
     Warinus 4
Wymer 4 From OE Wigmær or CG Wigmar. Gimer is from the CG name.
     Wymare 1
     Wymerus 1
     Gimer 2
Benedict 3
     Benedictus 3
Edward 3
     Edwardus 3
Everard 3
     Everardus 3
Guy 3
     Wido 1
     Wydo 2
Jocelyn 3
     Gocelinus 3
Philip 3
     Philippus 2
     Phillipus 1
Seeman 3 From OE Sæmann.
     Seeman 2
     Seemannus 1
Albin 2 From OFr Albin, Aubin, from Latin Albinus, ultimately from albus `white'. Withycombe refers this name to Alban, to which it is not related.
     Albinus 2
Alfred 2 The Alfredus is also one of the two Alvredus.
     Alfredus 1
     Alvredus 2
Arthur 2
     Arthurus 2
Bartholomew 2
     Bartholomeus 2
David 2
     David 2
Fulke 2
     Fulco 2
Gervase 2
     Gervasius 2
Gerard 2
     Girardus 2
Godwin 2 Godwyn' = Godvynus.
     Godewinus 1
     Godwyn' 1
     Godvynus 1
Hereward 2
     Hereward 1
     Herewardus 1
Jordan 2
     Iordanus 2
Martin 2
     Martinus 2
Milo 2
     Milo 1
     Milot 1
Solomon 2
     Salomon 2
Theobald 2
     Thebaldus 1
     Theobaldus 1
Adelard 1 From OE Æðelheard or CG Adel(h)ard.
     Athelardus 1
Albert 1
     Albertus 1
Alwin 1 Grouped by Withycombe with Aylwin. Usually from OE Æðelwine or Ælfwine.
     Alwinus 1
Aylwin 1 From OE Æðelwine.
     Aylewynus 1
Beneger 1 Either a hybrid from Latin Bene- (as in Benedictus) and Germanic -ger, -gar, or a variant of Berenger.
     Beneger 1
Berenger 1
     Berengarius 1
Christopher 1
     Christofarus 1
Constantine 1
     Constantinus 1
Denis 1
     Dyonisius 1
Edric 1 From OE Eadric.
     Eddricus 1
Elias 1 They are the same person.
     Helias 1
     Helyas 1
Fray 1 An OFr name of unknown origin.
     Fray 1
Gamel 1
     Gamel 1
Godelot 1 God-el-ot, a French double diminutive of some Germanic name with first element God-.
     Godelot 1
Gregory 1
     Gregorius 1
Hamon 1
     Hamon 1
Humphrey 1
     Hunfridus 1
Ioco 1 Obscure.
     Ioco 1
Isaac 1
     Ysac 1
Lagot 1 Obscure.
     Lagot 1
Laurence 1
     Laurencius 1
Leonard 1
     Leonardus 1
Letard 1 From CG Leuthard.
     Letard 1
Michael 1
     Michael 1
Nigel 1
     Nigellus 1
Noah 1
     Noes 1
Osgood 1
     Osegod 1
Osmer 1 From OE Osmær.
     Omerus 1
Osmond 1
     Osmundus 1
Pagan 1
     Paen 1
Paul 1
     Pawelinus 1
Richeman 1 From an unattested OE Ricmann or from CG Ricmann.
     Richeman 1
Ringer 1 From OE Hringhere or CG Hringheri.
     Ringerus 1
Rocelin 1 OFr, from CG Ruozelin.
     Rocelinus 1
Sperling 1 All are the same person. Probably from an unattested OE Spyrling.
     Sperling 1
     Sperling' 1
     Sperleng' 1
Toly 1 From ON To/li.
     Toly 1
Turbert 1 A Norman hybrid of Scand. Þor- and CG -bert.
     Turbertus 1
Walding 1 From an unattested OE Wealding, a diminutive of names in Weald-.
     Walding 1
Walkelin 1 From Norman Walchelin, a double diminutive of CG Walho or Walico.
     Walkelinus 1
Wymark 1 From OBret Wiuhomarch, a masculine and feminine personal name.
     Wimark 1
Wymon 1 Probably from OE Wigmund; ODa, OSw Vimund is less likely here.
     Wymon 1


Introduction
Feminine Given Names





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