Medieval English Name Generator

Period-accurate names from Norman England to the Wars of the Roses

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Generate medieval English names built the way they really were: a Norman or Saxon given name plus a byname from a trade, a place, a parent or a nickname. Covers knights and ladies, monks and nuns, townsfolk and peasants from the Conquest to the Tudors, with real historical figures mixed in.

About medieval English names

After 1066 the English name stock changed almost overnight. Within two generations the Saxon pool of Wulfric, Leofwine, Godgifu and Eadgyth had been pushed aside by the names the Normans brought with them: William, Robert, Richard, Hugh, Walter, Ralph, Roger and Geoffrey for men; Matilda, Alice, Agnes, Emma, Cecily, Joan, Isabel and Margery for women. By 1300 a handful of names covered most of the population, so records are full of Williams and Alices told apart only by their bynames.

Those bynames are where the character lives. A townsman was named for his trade (Webster, Fletcher, Chandler, Cordwainer), a villager for where he lived (atte Wood, Underhill, of Wakefield), a son for his father (Fitzwalter, Wilkinson, Hobson) and many for how they looked or behaved (Longshanks, Whitehead, Drinkwater, Goodfellow). Norman landholders used 'de' with their French estate (de Lacy, de Mortimer, de Vere), and Anglo-French epithets with 'le' and 'la' (le Taillour, la Blunde) were common in the 13th century before English spellings took over.

Everyday speech ran on diminutives. Robert was Hob or Robin, William was Wilkin, Richard was Hick or Dicken, Walter was Wat, John was Jankin, Matilda was Maud, Isabel was Ibbot and Margaret was Magot. Pair those with an occupation and you get the voice of the village rather than the charter.

How to choose medieval English names

  • Choose a century first. Wulfric and Leofwine belong before 1150, 'le' and 'de' bynames peak in the 1200s, and inherited surnames like Wilkinson or Hardcastle read as 1350 onward.
  • Match the byname to status: 'de' plus a Norman place for the gentry (Geoffrey de Clare), a trade for townsfolk (Alice Webster), 'atte' plus a landmark for villagers (Hugh atte Wood), and a plain nickname for the poorest (Hob Cobbler, Tib the Spinster).
  • Use the diminutive in dialogue and the formal name in documents. A man who signs as Robertus Wilkinson is Hob to his neighbours, and that contrast makes a scene feel lived-in.
  • Titles were rare: Sir for knights, Dame for their wives and for prioresses, Brother and Sister for religious, and nothing at all for almost everyone else. A list full of Sirs reads as fantasy, not England.
  • Spelling was not fixed, so you can signal region or class by spelling alone: Matilda, Maud and Mahaut are one name, as are Isabel, Isolda and Ysabel, and Agnes was often written Annis or Annot.

Frequently asked questions

What were the most common medieval English names?

From roughly 1150 onward: William, John, Robert, Richard, Thomas, Hugh, Walter, Ralph, Roger and Geoffrey for men, and Alice, Matilda (Maud), Agnes, Joan, Emma, Cecily, Isabel, Margery, Juliana and Beatrice for women. In the 14th century John, William, Thomas, Alice, Joan and Agnes between them covered well over half of all recorded people.

Did medieval English people have surnames?

Not at first. They had bynames that described the individual, such as Roger le Taillour or Agnes atte Gate, which could change over a lifetime. Bynames began hardening into inherited family surnames among the gentry in the 12th century and among ordinary people between about 1300 and 1450, which is why so many English surnames today are medieval trades and places.

How did Saxon and Norman names coexist?

Uneasily. Saxon names such as Godric, Aelfric, Eadgyth and Wulfrun survived among the peasantry and the clergy into the 1100s, then faded as families adopted the names of their Norman lords. A few Saxon names (Edward, Edmund, Edith, Alfred) survived because of royal saints. Using a Saxon given name for a character is a quick way to mark them as old stock or low rank in the Norman century.

Are these names suitable for fantasy settings?

Very much so. Most English-flavoured fantasy, from Arthurian retellings to grimdark, borrows this exact stock of names, and the real bynames (Crookshank, Makepeace, Strangeways, Drinkwater) give characters more texture than invented ones. Keep the given name real and invent the place in the byname if you need something that does not exist on a map.

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All 500 medieval English 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: 61 names

  • Abbess Euphemia
  • Abbot Samson
  • Abbot Wulfric
  • Adam Arrowsmith
  • Adam de Stratton
  • Adam Dickinson
  • Adam le Clerk
  • Adeliza of Louvain
  • Aelfgar Glover
  • Aelfgifu of Northampton
  • Aelfgyth of Wessex
  • Aelfled Barber
  • Aelfric Bata
  • Aelfric Salter
  • Aelfthryth Brewer
  • Aelfwine Cild
  • Aelfwynn Goldwright
  • Aelfwynn Tailor
  • Aethelwig of Evesham
  • Agatha Thornbury
  • Agatha Ward
  • Agnes atte Gate
  • Agnes Baxter
  • Agnes Kempster
  • Agnes la Rouse
  • Agnes Paston
  • Ailward Cooper
  • Alan a Dale
  • Alan Fitzflaald
  • Alditha Winterbourne

A, continued

  • Aldous Ravensworth
  • Aldred atte Mill
  • Aldwyn Cartwright
  • Alfred Blacksmith
  • Alianor de Bohun
  • Alianor Talbot
  • Alice atte Hill
  • Alice la Blunde
  • Alice Montacute
  • Alice Perrers
  • Alice Webster
  • Aline Greystoke
  • Alison Ferrour
  • Alison of Bath
  • Alwin Tanner
  • Alys Kempe
  • Alys Laundress
  • Amice Chaloner
  • Amice Overdale
  • Andrew of Horncastle
  • Anketil Ferrers
  • Anne Stafford
  • Annora Faulkner
  • Annot Napier
  • Anselm Goodfellow
  • Arkil Sweinson
  • Aubrey de Vere
  • Avelina Crakebone
  • Avice Fuller
  • Aymer de Valence
  • Azor Tokeson

B: 21 names

  • Baldwin de Redvers
  • Bartholomew Pynchon
  • Beatrice Bigod
  • Beatrice Furbisher
  • Beatrice la Graunt
  • Beatrice of Stamford
  • Beatrix Brewster
  • Benedict Whitchurch
  • Beorhtric Algarson
  • Bertram Verdun
  • Brian Fitzcount
  • Brihtmar Shipwright
  • Brihtric Maew
  • Brihtwyn Carver
  • Brother Aelred
  • Brother Anselm of Bury
  • Brother Cuthbert
  • Brother Godfrey
  • Brother Jocelin de Brakelond
  • Brother Oswald
  • Burghild Bonde

C: 22 names

  • Canon Robert Sherborne
  • Cecilia Frankeleyn
  • Cecily Bardolf
  • Cecily la Wyse
  • Cecily of Tewkesbury
  • Cecily Sherwyn
  • Cecily Thatcher
  • Christina Wright
  • Christine Carpenter
  • Clarice Lister
  • Clemence Ashwell
  • Colin Hayward
  • Colle Tinker
  • Constance Courtenay
  • Constance Fitzjohn
  • Cristiana Marshall
  • Cristina of Markyate
  • Cristina Whitby
  • Cristyn Tapster
  • Cuthbert Mason
  • Cwenhild Weaver
  • Cynesige Flint

D: 13 names

  • Dame Agnes Bowes
  • Dame Alice de Bryene
  • Dame Alice Stanley
  • Dame Cecily Neville
  • Dame Joan Hadham
  • Denise Hayward
  • Denise Strangeways
  • Dicken Barker
  • Dicken Swinnerton
  • Dicken the Drover
  • Dionisia Fairford
  • Dionisia Pargeter
  • Drogo de Beaumont

E: 47 names

  • Eadburga Smith
  • Eadgifu Potter
  • Eadmer of Canterbury
  • Eadmund Fuller
  • Eadric Candeler
  • Eadric Streona
  • Eadric the Wild
  • Eadwulf Skinner
  • Ealdgyth of Mercia
  • Ealhswith Baker
  • Eddeva Lister
  • Edgar Porter
  • Edith Cordwainer
  • Edith of Scotland
  • Edith Seller
  • Edith Swanneck
  • Edmund Carter
  • Edmund Fitzgerold
  • Edmund of Woodstock
  • Edmund Sawyer
  • Edward Despenser
  • Edward Faulkner
  • Edwin Wheelwright
  • Edwy Marler
  • Ela of Salisbury
  • Eleanor Cobham
  • Eleanor Fitzalan
  • Eleanor of Aquitaine
  • Eleanor of Shrewsbury
  • Elena of Ludlow
  • Elena Skinner
  • Elfstan Forester
  • Elizabeth de Burgh
  • Elizabeth Scrope
  • Ellen Chandler
  • Ellen Ormsby
  • Emma atte Brook
  • Emma la Corderer
  • Emma of Normandy
  • Emme Pannier
  • Emmeline de Say
  • Emmot Glover
  • Emmot Hosier
  • Eustace de Vesci
  • Eustace Radcliffe
  • Eva Redhead
  • Everard de Montfort

F: 6 names

  • Father Thomas Dale
  • Felicia Brewster
  • Friar Hugh Penny
  • Friar Roger Wyche
  • Fulk FitzWarin
  • Fulk Staveley

G: 36 names

  • Gamel of Ryedale
  • Geoffrey Chaucer
  • Geoffrey de Clare
  • Geoffrey de Mandeville
  • Geoffrey Fitzpeter
  • Geoffrey le Blund
  • Gerald of Wales
  • Gervase Dacre
  • Gervase Paganel
  • Gib Crowder
  • Gib the Cat-Catcher
  • Gib Turnspit
  • Gilbert le Pestour
  • Gilbert of Clerkenwell
  • Gilbert Segrave
  • Gilbert Tanner
  • Gillian Baker
  • Godfrey Kirkby
  • Godfrey Longshanks
  • Godgifu of Coventry
  • Godgyth Milner
  • Goditha Baxter
  • Godiva Shepherd
  • Godleva Spicer
  • Godmund Hooper
  • Godric Chapman
  • Godric of Finchale
  • Godwin le Blake
  • Godwin Thatcher
  • Gospatric of Dunbar
  • Gundred de Warenne
  • Gundulf of Rochester
  • Gunnild Thresher
  • Guy de Beauchamp
  • Gytha Saddler
  • Gytha Thorkelsdóttir

H: 34 names

  • Hamelin de Warenne
  • Hamo de Crevequer
  • Hamo Goldsmith
  • Hamon Peche
  • Hawise de Lacy
  • Hawise of Evesham
  • Hawise of Gloucester
  • Hawys Shepster
  • Henry le Mareschal
  • Henry Lovell
  • Henry Percy
  • Henry Pettifer
  • Henry Rawlins
  • Herbert le Strange
  • Hereward Ashdown
  • Hick Reeve
  • Hick Shepherd
  • Hick the Hayward
  • Hob Carpenter
  • Hob Cobbler
  • Hob o' the Mill
  • Hodge Miller
  • Hodge the Hedger
  • Hubert de Burgh
  • Hubert Hastings
  • Hugh atte Hatch
  • Hugh atte Wood
  • Hugh Despenser
  • Hugh Fitzgerald
  • Hugh Hodgson
  • Hugh le Waleys
  • Hugh of Caversham
  • Hugh of Lincoln
  • Humphrey de Bohun

I: 16 names

  • Ibbot the Webster
  • Ibbot Turner
  • Idonea Draper
  • Idony Tapper
  • Ingeram Wytehonde
  • Isabel Beauchamp
  • Isabel de Clare
  • Isabel Fitzhugh
  • Isabel la Noreys
  • Isabel of Wycombe
  • Isabella of Angoulême
  • Isold Silkwoman
  • Isolda Crookshank
  • Isolda Shelley
  • Ivo of Grantham
  • Ivo Tailleboys

J: 28 names

  • Jack Straw
  • Jankin Millward
  • Jankin o' the Hill
  • Jankin the Swineherd
  • Jankin Webbe
  • Joan atte Lee
  • Joan Bourchier
  • Joan la Vavasour
  • Joan Mowbray
  • Joan of Kent
  • Joan Sadler
  • Joanna Franklin
  • Jocosa Whitehead
  • John Ball
  • John Coke
  • John Dawson
  • John de Warenne
  • John Fitznicholas
  • John le Forester
  • John of Gaunt
  • Jone Lauender
  • Jonet Spinner
  • Jordan Fitzgilbert
  • Jordan Thorpe
  • Judith of Lens
  • Julian of Norwich
  • Juliana la Frenche
  • Juliana Tyler

K: 2 names

  • Katherine Swynford
  • Ketel Ormson

L: 15 names

  • Lady Eleanor Fitzwalter
  • Lady Isabel Bradshaw
  • Lady Matilda de Lacy
  • Leofgifu Wimpler
  • Leofric Wulfstanson
  • Leofstan Cooper
  • Leofwin Ferrour
  • Leofwine atte Wood
  • Leofwine Godwinson
  • Letitia Heywood
  • Lettice de Braose
  • Lettice Pinder
  • Little John Naylor
  • Lovedy Carder
  • Lucy of Bolingbroke

M: 30 names

  • Mabel Clifford
  • Mabel Weaver
  • Magot Salter
  • Magot the Alewife
  • Malkin Osteler
  • Malkin the Dairymaid
  • Malyn Thrower
  • Margaret of Kent
  • Margaret Paston
  • Margaret Selby
  • Margaret Strange
  • Margery atte Townsend
  • Margery Kempe
  • Margery la Parmenter
  • Margery Sempster
  • Margery Wainwright
  • Mariota Webster
  • Matilda Chaucer
  • Matilda of Ramsbury
  • Matilda Shakelance
  • Maud Bythewood
  • Maud de Braose
  • Maud de Vere
  • Maud Fitzwalter
  • Maud la Fleming
  • Miles de Courcy
  • Miles Fitzroger
  • Miles of Gloucester
  • Much the Miller's Son
  • Muriel Bond

N: 8 names

  • Nesta ferch Rhys
  • Nicholas Brembre
  • Nicholas Hankin
  • Nicholas le Lung
  • Nicholas of Guildford
  • Nick the Reeve
  • Nigel Fitzherbert
  • Nyckel Bowyer

O: 12 names

  • Odo Sherborne
  • Oliver Ingham
  • Ordericus Vitalis
  • Orm Gamalson
  • Osbern Fitzosbern
  • Osbern Pewterer
  • Osbert Bythebrook
  • Osbert le Petit
  • Osbert Mercer
  • Osgod Clerk
  • Osmund Parker
  • Osric Cook

P: 13 names

  • Perkin Chandler
  • Perkin the Pardoner
  • Perkin Warbeck
  • Peter des Roches
  • Peter le Noble
  • Petronilla Spicer
  • Philippa Harcourt
  • Philippa Roet
  • Piers Fitzrobert
  • Piers Gaveston
  • Piers Plowman
  • Piers Tomkins
  • Prioress Alianor

R: 39 names

  • Ralph Basset
  • Ralph de Mortimer
  • Ralph Fitzstephen
  • Ralph Hicks
  • Ralph le Bret
  • Ralph Neville
  • Ranulf de Glanville
  • Ranulf Flambard
  • Ranulf of Wakefield
  • Reginald de Grey
  • Reynold Ashby
  • Reynold of Cobham
  • Richard atte Well
  • Richard Fitzralph
  • Richard Hawkins
  • Richard le Frye
  • Richard Plantagenet
  • Richard Whittington
  • Rob Hood
  • Robert atte Hall
  • Robert de Bellême
  • Robert de Umfraville
  • Robert Grosseteste
  • Robert le Kyng
  • Robert Smallbone
  • Robert Stokesby
  • Robert Wilkinson
  • Robyn Fletcher
  • Roger Bacon
  • Roger Damory
  • Roger Fitzpayne
  • Roger Fitzwalter
  • Roger Hobson
  • Roger le Taillour
  • Roger Makepeace
  • Roger Mortimer
  • Roger Pickering
  • Rohese Giffard
  • Rohesia de Vere

S: 34 names

  • Sabina Coupere
  • Saewine Snell
  • Sarra Ashcombe
  • Sarra Palmer
  • Sibbe Dyer
  • Sibyl Hollins
  • Sibyl Marmion
  • Simon Chapman
  • Simon de Montfort
  • Simon le Rous
  • Simon Zouche
  • Sir Bevis of Hampton
  • Sir Geoffrey Luttrell
  • Sir Guy de Bryan
  • Sir Hamo Audley
  • Sir Hugh Calveley
  • Sir John Hawkwood
  • Sir Miles Stapleton
  • Sir Nigel Loring
  • Sir Ralph Percy
  • Sir Reginald Fitzalan
  • Sir Thomas Malory
  • Sir Walter Manny
  • Sister Aelfgifu
  • Sister Beatrice of Syon
  • Sister Christina
  • Sister Hildegard
  • Siward Barn
  • Stephen Langton
  • Stephen le Serjaunt
  • Stephen Mason
  • Swein Butcher
  • Sybilla Corbet
  • Symkyn Miller

T: 17 names

  • Thomas Becket
  • Thomas Fitzsimon
  • Thomas Holland
  • Thomas le Gode
  • Thomas Lightfoot
  • Thomas of Hereford
  • Thomas Watkins
  • Thorold of Bucknall
  • Thurkill Hoga
  • Thurstan Cooper
  • Thurstan Holegate
  • Tib the Spinster
  • Tiffania Seamstress
  • Tiffany Pottere
  • Toki Wigotson
  • Tom Thresher
  • Tovi Ropere

U: 2 names

  • Uhtred of Bamburgh
  • Ulf Fenisc

W: 43 names

  • Walter atte Style
  • Walter Fitzhugh
  • Walter Fletcher
  • Walter Gibbs
  • Walter Giffard
  • Walter Hungerford
  • Walter le Hunte
  • Walter Map
  • Walter of Henley
  • Waltheof of Northumbria
  • Warin Bowyer
  • Warin of Bassingbourn
  • Wat o' the Green
  • Wat Tyler
  • Wat Wainwright
  • Wigod of Wallingford
  • Wilkin Dyer
  • Wilkin Johnson
  • Wilkin Salter
  • Wilkin the Ploughman
  • Will Scarlet
  • William atte Forde
  • William le Fevre
  • William Longespée
  • William Marshal
  • William Perkins
  • William Underhill
  • Wulfflaed Laxman
  • Wulfgeat Fisher
  • Wulfhilda of Barking
  • Wulfnoth Cild
  • Wulfric Stonehouse
  • Wulfric Stonemason
  • Wulfric Underwood
  • Wulfruna Chandler
  • Wulfsige Fowler
  • Wulfstan Drinkwater
  • Wulfstan of Worcester
  • Wulfwynn Cheesewright
  • Wymarc Ashley
  • Wymarc de Say
  • Wymond Crowther
  • Wynflaed Fletcher

Y: 1 name

  • Ysabel Hardcastle