Frankish Name Generator

Frankish names of the fifth to ninth centuries, from Merovingian kings like Chlodovech and Dagobert and queens like Balthild to Carolingian counts, bishops like Chrodegang and short forms like Bodo and Itta.

About Frankish names

The Franks spoke a West Germanic language, and their names follow the old Germanic habit of joining two elements into one. Chlodovech joins words for fame and battle, Dagobert joins day and bright, and Theuderic joins people and ruler. Families passed elements down, so the Merovingian house is full of names in Chlod-, Child- and Theud-, and a child often shares half a name with a parent or a brother.

Spelling depends on who held the pen. Gregory of Tours and other writers of the sixth and seventh centuries wrote the rough Frankish h as Ch, which gives Childebert, Chlothar and Chilperic. By the age of Charlemagne the same sounds were written Hludowic and Hlothar, and later French and German turned them into Louis, Ludwig and Lothair. Women's names mostly end in -trude, -hild, -gund, -berga or -sind, as in Plectrude, Balthild, Radegund and Amalberga.

This list has 500 single names, because Franks had no surnames: kings and queens, Franks in late Roman service such as Arbogast and Richomer, dukes and counts, bishops, abbesses and scholars, and everyday short forms like Pippin, Bodo, Odo and Itta that were names in their own right.

How to choose Frankish names

• Match the spelling to the century. Ch- forms like Chlodomer and Chramn suit a story set before 700, while Hludowic, Hruodland and Adalgis fit the age of Charlemagne.
• Give a family shared elements. Brothers named Chlodomer and Chlothar, or sisters named Rotrude and Rothild, read as kin at a glance, which is how Frankish parents used names.
• Use a short name for everyday speech. Odo, Hugo and Bodo for men and Itta, Ida and Emma for women stand as complete names in the sources, and they sit well beside a long two-part name such as Hludowic or Bertrada in the same family.
• Add a place or an office instead of a surname. The sources tell people apart as count of Paris, abbess of Chelles or mayor of the palace, not by family name.
• Say the name aloud before you commit. Chl- and Hl- both stand for a breathy h before the l, so Chlothar and Hlothar are the same name in two spellings, close to Lothar.

Frequently asked questions

What did Frankish names sound like?

Most are two Germanic elements joined together, so they sound close to Old High German and Old English names. Theudebert, Sigibert, Brunichild and Ermengard are typical long forms. Short forms such as Pippin, Drogo, Begga and Ava were in use beside them at every rank.

What is the difference between Merovingian and Carolingian names?

The stock of names is largely the same, but the spelling and the fashions change. Merovingian sources prefer Ch- spellings and names in Chlod-, Child- and Chram-, as in Chlodovech, Childeric and Chramn. Carolingian sources write Hludowic, Karl and Hlothar, and names such as Bernard, Berengar, Gisela and Hildegard become common among the great families.

Did the Franks have surnames?

No. A Frank had one name, and writers added a father's name, an office or a place when they needed to tell two people apart. Nicknames like the Short or the Bald were given by later chroniclers and were not part of the name.

Can I rely on these names for historical work?

Treat the list as a starting point. It was drafted from the kinds of names found in Gregory of Tours, the Chronicle of Fredegar and Carolingian annals and charters, and it has not been compared entry by entry with those texts. Spellings vary a great deal between sources, so look a name up before you use it in research or reenactment.

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All 500 Frankish names