17th Century Name Generator

Full names from across the 1600s

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Generate period full names from the 1600s, from Stuart England to the Dutch Golden Age, such as Ambrose Fettiplace, Lettice Aldworth and Cornelis Jansz van der Meer. Use them for historical fiction, tabletop campaigns and reenactment personas.

About 17th century names

The 17th century runs from 1601 to 1700, and its names change with every border you cross. In Stuart England the old staples (John, Thomas, William, Elizabeth, Anne, Mary) still filled the parish registers, while Puritan families reached for Old Testament names such as Ezekiel and Obadiah and for virtue names such as Temperance and Thankful. Gentry families kept rarer given names like Marmaduke, Gervase and Peregrine in use for generations.

Across the Channel the patterns shift. French nobles carried a "de" and the name of an estate, and hyphenated first names such as Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Thérèse were in fashion. In the Dutch Republic most people still used a patronymic, written Jansz for a son of Jan and Jansdr for a daughter, often followed by a family name or a "van" place name. Spanish names could join two family lines with "y", and German parents liked double given names such as Hans Heinrich and Anna Maria.

This list mixes all of those traditions and adds Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Italian and Swedish names, so you can cast a whole novel or campaign from one page. The entries are fictional pairings of given names and surnames that were in use at the time.

How to choose 17th century names

  • Match the particle to the country. A French "de" or German "von" points to a landed family, while a Dutch "van" only means "from" and was carried by ordinary townspeople too.
  • Save Puritan virtue names for godly English households and New England settlers. They would stand out at a royal court.
  • Use titles the period way: Sir goes with the first name, Goodman and Goodwife suit respectable commoners, and Master and Mistress belong to the gentry and better-off townsfolk.
  • Let Dutch patronymics change each generation. The son of Cornelis Jansz would be a Cornelisz, and his daughter a Cornelisdr.
  • Spelling was not fixed in the 1600s, so a character can be Katherine in one letter and Catherine in the next without breaking the period feel.

Frequently asked questions

What were common names in the 17th century?

In England, John, William, Thomas, Mary, Elizabeth and Anne dominated the century. Other countries had their own staples: Jean and Marie in France, Jan and Cornelis in the Netherlands, Juan and María in Spain, Hans and Anna in the German states. This list balances those everyday names with rarer ones, as in Marmaduke Thwaites or Philadelphia Cholmley.

Does the list cover the 1600s outside England?

Yes. A little under four in ten names come from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and the rest are French, Dutch, Spanish, German, Italian and Swedish. You will find names like Gaspard de Kergariou, Caspar Aichinger and Gaspar de Avellaneda next to the English ones.

How did Dutch names work in the 1600s?

Most Dutch people used a given name plus a patronymic built from the father's first name, ending in -sz for sons and -sdr for daughters. Many added a family name or a "van" place name after it, as in Cornelis Jansz van der Meer. Fixed surnames for everyone only became the rule much later.

Are these the names of real historical people?

No. They are fictional combinations of period given names and surnames, meant for characters in novels, games and reenactment. With common surnames a pairing can still match someone who really lived, so search a name before you use it in published work.

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All 500 17th century names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 41 names

  • Abel Hodges
  • Abigail Mayhew
  • Abraham Boelens
  • Abraham Hofmeister
  • Adriaen Willemsz Prins
  • Aeltje Jansdr Visser
  • Agnès de Dangeau
  • Agneta Valckenier
  • Agustín Carrillo de Tapia
  • Alasdair Grant
  • Albrecht von Dohna
  • Alderman Gilbert Osborne
  • Alexandre d'Effiat
  • Alice Thatcher
  • Amalia von Dohna
  • Ambrose Fettiplace
  • Ambrosio de Ledesma
  • Ambrosius Vischer
  • Amy Yates
  • Ana Benavides y Padilla

A, continued

  • Anastasia Cope
  • Andreas Löffler
  • Andries Hasselaer
  • Angélique de Kerouartz
  • Angharad Bevan
  • Anna Katharina Seiler
  • Anna Maria Metzger
  • Anne de Brienne
  • Anne Goodwin
  • Anne-Marie Le Tellier
  • Annibal de Simiane
  • Anthony Skipwith
  • Antonia Pacheco y Ulloa
  • Apollonia Leutner
  • Arcangela Grimani
  • Archibald Pringle
  • Arent Jacobsz Bos
  • Art O'Dempsey
  • Arthur Bramhall
  • Augustin Wiedemann
  • Augustine Paston

B: 24 names

  • Baertje Timmerman
  • Baltasar de Bracamonte
  • Balthasar Dürr
  • Baptiste Girard
  • Barbara Eisenmenger
  • Barbara Skinner
  • Barbe Chevalier
  • Barent Cornelisz Smit
  • Barthélemy Moreau
  • Bartholomäus Oberländer
  • Bartholomeus Munter
  • Bartholomew Glanville
  • Bartolomé Maldonado de Paredes
  • Beatrix Keith
  • Beatriz Coloma
  • Benjamin Fenn
  • Bernarda de Ribadeneira
  • Bernhard von Schwerin
  • Blanche Waller
  • Blas de Montalvo
  • Bonne de La Roche
  • Bridget Filmer
  • Brigitta Zeller
  • Brita Olofsdotter

C: 33 names

  • Cadwaladr Wynn
  • Captain Zachary Hawkins
  • Caspar Aichinger
  • Cassandra Contarini
  • Cassandra Wenman
  • Catalina Dávila y Zapata
  • Catharina Boelens
  • Catherine de Schomberg
  • Catrin ferch Hywel
  • Cécile de Lauzun
  • César de Vaucelles
  • Charity Norcliffe
  • Charles Noel
  • Charles Pinson
  • Charlotte de Polignac
  • Christian Gibbs
  • Christian Livingstone
  • Christina von Pflugk
  • Christoph Metzger
  • Christopher Pelham
  • Cicely Gawdy
  • Claude Tessier
  • Clement Palgrave
  • Coenraet Geelvinck
  • Colin Guthrie
  • Comfort Wood
  • Conrad Stadler
  • Constance Masham
  • Cordula Löffler
  • Cornelis Jansz van der Meer
  • Costanza Mattei
  • Cristóbal Pacheco de Narváez
  • Cuthbert Widdrington

D: 22 names

  • Dame Margery Vernon
  • Daniel Bachelier
  • Daniel Weller
  • David Kellner
  • Deborah Throckmorton
  • Deliverance Nash
  • Denis d'Ormesson
  • Denise Rousseau
  • Dermot O'Kelly
  • Desire Turner
  • Diane de Pomponne
  • Dietrich von Dalberg
  • Dieuwertje Prins
  • Dirck Pietersz Backer
  • Doctor Erasmus Fisher
  • Domingo Ibáñez de Ocampo
  • Dominicus Corver
  • Donough O'Dwyer
  • Dorotea de Montalvo
  • Dorothea Haberkorn
  • Dorothy Bedingfield
  • Duncan Moncrieff

E: 31 names

  • Eberhard von Helmstatt
  • Edward Hotham
  • Eitel Drechsler
  • Eleanor Vaughan
  • Elen Pugh
  • Eleonore von Rochow
  • Élie Boulanger
  • Elinor Pierrepont
  • Élisabeth de Thou
  • Elizabeth Salter
  • Ellen Dawes
  • Ellis Power
  • Elspeth Balfour
  • Emerentia van Zuylen
  • Erasmus Dutton
  • Erasmus Zeller
  • Ercole Pallavicino
  • Erik Jönsson
  • Ernst von Einsiedel
  • Esteban Osorio de Benavides
  • Étienne Brisset
  • Eufrasia de Tovar
  • Eugenia de Ledesma
  • Euphemia Crichton
  • Euphrosina Bader
  • Eva Rosina Sartorius
  • Evan Probert
  • Evert Maertensz Cuyper
  • Ewout van der Does
  • Experience Wright
  • Ezekiel Rawlins

F: 16 names

  • Fabrizio Altieri
  • Fadrique de Cárdenas
  • Feliciana de Bracamonte
  • Felicitas Drechsler
  • Femmetje Cuyper
  • Finola O'Rourke
  • Flaminio Mattei
  • Floris van Assendelft
  • Francina Oetgens
  • Francisca Contreras
  • François Pothier
  • Françoise de Marillac
  • Frideswide Hart
  • Fulke Wolryche
  • Fulvia Salviati
  • Fulvio Sacchetti

G: 33 names

  • Gabriel Barbier
  • Gabrielle de La Trémoille
  • Garrett Nugent
  • Gaspar de Avellaneda
  • Gaspard de Kergariou
  • Gavin Elphinstone
  • Geertje Snoeck
  • Geneviève de Gramont
  • Georg Friedrich Textor
  • George Wallop
  • Germain de Chaumont
  • Gerrit Claesz Schouten
  • Gertrude Eaton
  • Gervase Scudamore
  • Gijsbert van Zuylen
  • Giles Twysden
  • Ginés de Peralta
  • Ginevra Sacchetti
  • Godfrey Wandesford
  • Goodman Abel Sawyer
  • Goodman Jonas Wheeler
  • Goodwife Prudence Tanner
  • Gottfried von der Schulenburg
  • Gotthard Gerber
  • Govert Adriaensz Dekker
  • Grace Kaye
  • Gregoria Portocarrero
  • Gregorio Sarmiento de Ulloa
  • Grietje Claesdr Mulder
  • Grissell Ingram
  • Grizel Seton
  • Guillemette Gagnon
  • Guy Berthelot

H: 28 names

  • Hannah Squire
  • Hans Heinrich Schultheiß
  • Hans Jakob Molitor
  • Harmen Verbeeck
  • Hartmann Bader
  • Hector Urquhart
  • Hedwig von Einsiedel
  • Heinrich von Pflugk
  • Helen Colquhoun
  • Helena von Gersdorff
  • Hendrick Lambertsz van Texel
  • Henri Hamelin
  • Henrietta Popham
  • Henriette de Créquy
  • Henry Monson
  • Hercule de Saint-Aubin
  • Hew Arbuthnot
  • Heyltje Coster
  • Hezekiah Plummer
  • Hilaire de Clermont
  • Hillegond Corver
  • Honora Fitzgerald
  • Honoré de Pontbriand
  • Hortense de Vassé
  • Hugh Luttrell
  • Humphrey Oxenden
  • Hyacinthe de Montigny
  • Hywel ap Ieuan

I: 6 names

  • Ingeborg Nilsdotter
  • Íñigo Dávila y Contreras
  • Isaac Aubry
  • Isaac Bunce
  • Isabelle de Saint-Simon
  • Isobel Lockhart

J: 34 names

  • Jacinto de Villegas
  • Jacqueline Dubois
  • Jacques Vasseur
  • James Rous
  • Jane Sadler
  • Janet Dundas
  • Jannetje Dekker
  • Jasper Uvedale
  • Jean-Baptiste Pasquier
  • Jean-François Le Roux
  • Jenkin Stradling
  • Jeremiah Tilley
  • Jeremias Moser
  • Jeroen Vermeulen
  • Jérôme de Harlay
  • Jerónima de Quiñones
  • Joachim de Souvré
  • Joan Fowler
  • Johann Georg Mylius
  • Johanna van Loon
  • John Pickering
  • Jöns Månsson
  • Jörg Gruber
  • Joris Wouters
  • Josefa de Moncada
  • Josiah Newcombe
  • Josina van Assendelft
  • Joyce Bolton
  • Juana de Bazán
  • Judith Hungerford
  • Judith Verhulst
  • Juliana von Nostitz
  • Julie Gobelin
  • Justina Hafner

K: 4 names

  • Karin Persdotter
  • Katharina Dürr
  • Kenneth Chisholm
  • Kunigunde Nussbaum

L: 31 names

  • Lachlan Macpherson
  • Lady Arabella Wharton
  • Lady Frances Shirley
  • Lady Penelope Whitelocke
  • Lambert van Tuyll
  • Lancelot Poyntz
  • Laurens Snoeck
  • Laurent de Beringhen
  • Lavinia Altieri
  • Lawrence Crofts
  • Leendert Roos
  • Leonard Bagshaw
  • Léonard de Cavoye
  • Leonhard Sattler
  • Leonor Gaitán
  • Leopold von Gersdorff
  • Lettice Aldworth
  • Lionel Wodehouse
  • Livia Spada
  • Llewelyn Salusbury
  • Lorenz Rauscher
  • Lorenzo Fajardo y Sotomayor
  • Louis Hardouin
  • Louise de Nesmond
  • Louise-Françoise Langlois
  • Lowri Penry
  • Lucrezia Capponi
  • Lucy Parr
  • Luisa Maldonado y Tapia
  • Lydia Winter
  • Lysbeth Hinlopen

M: 57 names

  • Mabel Garland
  • Machteld van Wassenaer
  • Madoc Thelwall
  • Maerten Harmensz Coster
  • Maertge Schipper
  • Magdalena Kessler
  • Magdalena Quesada
  • Måns Andersson
  • Manuela de Salcedo
  • Marcela Pimentel
  • Marcelo de Arellano
  • Margaret Beale
  • Margareta Svensdotter
  • Margaretha Baumgartner
  • Margaretha Coymans
  • Margarita de Paredes
  • Marguerite de Bassompierre
  • María Espinosa de Narváez
  • Marie de Villeroy
  • Marie-Anne Tavernier
  • Marie-Madeleine Foucault
  • Marie-Thérèse Charpentier
  • Marin Perrin
  • Marion Kerr
  • Marjory Erskine
  • Marmaduke Thwaites
  • Marritje Gerritsdr Brouwer
  • Martha Reeve

M, continued

  • Marthe Le Gras
  • Martín Coloma y Espinosa
  • Master Josiah Mercer
  • Master Nathaniel Draper
  • Mathieu d'Aligre
  • Mathurin Fournier
  • Matías de Castañeda
  • Matthew Hacker
  • Matthias Kürschner
  • Matthijs Huydecoper
  • Maximilian von Zedlitz
  • Meindert Poppen
  • Melchior Baumgartner
  • Melchior de Rochebrune
  • Melchor de Barrionuevo
  • Mercy Meux
  • Meredith Bulkeley
  • Micaela de Cárdenas
  • Michel Pelletier
  • Michelle Lambert
  • Michiel Oetgens
  • Miles Reresby
  • Millicent Drury
  • Mistress Judith Glover
  • Mistress Susanna Hopkins
  • Morgan Mansel
  • Mungo Cockburn
  • Muzio Contarini
  • Myles O'Byrne

N: 7 names

  • Nicholas Onslow
  • Nicolaes Noorman
  • Nicolás Manrique de Padilla
  • Nicolas Picard
  • Nikolaus Seiler
  • Nils Persson
  • Ninian Dalrymple

O: 9 names

  • Olive Marsh
  • Oliver Boteler
  • Olivier de Coëtquen
  • Olympe de Brancas
  • Onora Barry
  • Ortensia Ruspoli
  • Ottavio Lante
  • Ottilia Pfister
  • Owen O'Cahan

P: 23 names

  • Parson Ezekiel Birch
  • Pascual de Urrea
  • Patrick Ogilvy
  • Penelope Ashburnham
  • Peregrine Hobart
  • Perrette Moreau
  • Petronella Pels
  • Petronila de Castañeda
  • Phelim O'Reilly
  • Philadelphia Cholmley
  • Philiberte du Val
  • Philipp von Eltz
  • Phoebe Wild
  • Pierre Carpentier
  • Piers Mainwaring
  • Pieter Aertsz van Enkhuizen
  • Polonia de Villalobos
  • Pompeo Ruspoli
  • Praisegod Barlow
  • Preserved Pike
  • Priscilla Sydenham
  • Prospero Grimani
  • Prudence Lenthall

Q: 1 name

  • Quiteria de Urrea

R: 18 names

  • Rachel Stokes
  • Radegonde Bélanger
  • Ralph Calthorpe
  • Raymond de Noailles
  • Redmond Roche
  • Renée de Coulanges
  • Repentance Cobb
  • Rhys ap Hopkin
  • Richard Wray
  • Robert Roussel
  • Rodrigo Bazán de Quesada
  • Roelof Jansz Timmerman
  • Roger de Guitaut
  • Rombout Appelman
  • Rosamund Lister
  • Rosina Sattler
  • Rudolf von Nostitz
  • Rutger van Swanenburg

S: 38 names

  • Sabina Holt
  • Sabina Unger
  • Salomon Hinlopen
  • Samuel Faber
  • Samuel Oakes
  • Samuel Petitjean
  • Sara Hasselaer
  • Sarah Underwood
  • Scholastique Boucher
  • Scipion de Castellane
  • Scipione Capponi
  • Sebastián Pimentel y Zapata
  • Sebastiana Fajardo
  • Sibylla Vischer
  • Silence Webb
  • Silvester Quarles
  • Silvio Trevisan
  • Simon Bickerstaffe
  • Simon Blanchard
  • Simone Aubry
  • Sioned Parry
  • Sir Ambrose Egerton
  • Sir Anthony Kynaston
  • Sir Edmund Dering
  • Sir Giles Courtenay
  • Sir Hugh Corbet
  • Sir Humphrey Godolphin
  • Sir Lancelot Hatton
  • Sir Marmaduke Littleton
  • Sir Roger Blount
  • Sive O'Meagher
  • Sophia von Zedlitz
  • Stephen Gosling
  • Susanna Gorges
  • Susanna Munter
  • Susanna von Eltz
  • Suzanne de Mesmes
  • Symon Reael

T: 24 names

  • Tabitha Stawell
  • Taddeo Venier
  • Teige O'Sullivan
  • Teodoro de Jáuregui
  • Teresa Manrique y Vera
  • Teunis Claesz Vos
  • Thankful Wade
  • Theodosia Compton
  • Théophile de Beaulieu
  • Thérèse de Vardes
  • Thomas Gaultier
  • Thomas Peyton
  • Thomasine Danvers
  • Thurstan Legh
  • Tiberio Spada
  • Timoléon de Courcelles
  • Tobias Kessler
  • Tomás Enríquez de Salazar
  • Tomasa Sarmiento
  • Toribio de Quiñones
  • Toussaint du Fresne
  • Trijntje Cornelisdr Bos
  • Tristan de Saint-Hilaire
  • Turlough Maguire

U: 4 names

  • Ulick Dillon
  • Ulrich von Alvensleben
  • Úrsula Osorio
  • Ursule Tremblay

V: 4 names

  • Valentine Knyvett
  • Ventura de Salcedo
  • Volckert Pels
  • Volckje Roos

W: 7 names

  • Walter Strode
  • Widow Agnes Bowyer
  • Wijnant Deutz
  • Willem Jorisz van Medemblik
  • Winifred Brereton
  • Wolf Haberkorn
  • Wouter Gerritsz Mulder

Y: 1 name

  • Ysbrant van de Poll

Z: 4 names

  • Zaccaria Mocenigo
  • Zacharias Nussbaum
  • Zacharie Duchesne
  • Zachary Sparrow