Medieval Name Generator

Period-accurate names for knights, peasants and nobles

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Generate medieval names the way they were really formed: a period given name plus a byname drawn from a trade, a place, a parent or a nickname. Covers Anglo-Norman England, Anglo-Saxon, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Welsh, Irish, Norse and Byzantine styles, plus fantasy-medieval and Arthurian names for RPGs and fiction.

About medieval names

Medieval people did not have fixed surnames for most of the period. A person was a given name plus a byname that said something true about them: where they lived (Aldric of Wexcombe, Osric atte Well), what they did (Alys Webster, Wat Tyler, Hob Ostler), whose child they were (Robert Fitzalan, Dafydd ap Gruffudd, Ingeborg Haraldsdóttir) or what they looked like (Reginald Longshanks, Heinrich der Löwe). Only in the late Middle Ages did those bynames harden into inherited surnames, which is why so many modern English surnames are medieval trades.

Given names came from a surprisingly small pool. After the Norman Conquest, William, Robert, Roger, Hugh, Ralph, Walter and Geoffrey crowded out Anglo-Saxon names like Wulfric, Leofric and Aethelflaed; women were overwhelmingly Matilda, Alice, Agnes, Emma, Joan, Cecily and Margery, with rarer gems such as Hawise, Avice, Rohesia and Petronilla. Across the Channel the same pattern held with French, German, Italian and Iberian spellings, and the Celtic and Norse fringes kept their own patronymic systems.

This list gives you all of those layers: Anglo-Norman gentry, Saxon farmers, French and German nobility, Italian merchant families, Welsh, Irish, Scots and Norse patronymics, working-class trade names, clergy, chanson-de-geste and Arthurian figures, and a set of fantasy-medieval names that follow the same rules for D&D and original fiction.

How to choose medieval names

  • Match the byname type to social class: landholders use 'of' or 'de' plus a place (Hugh de Lacy), tradespeople use occupations (Emma Baxter), and peasants often just a nickname or 'atte' plus a landmark (Sibyl atte Mill).
  • Pick a century and region and stay in it. A Saxon name like Wulfric next to a Norman name like Fitzwalter tells a story of conquest; mixing Italian 'degli' and German 'von' in one family just looks careless.
  • Use 'Sir' and 'Lady' sparingly; most medieval people had no title at all, and a list full of knights reads as fantasy rather than history.
  • For fantasy settings, keep real given names and invent the place-byname (Alaric Thornwood, Morwenna Stormwell); the familiar first name keeps the invented surname believable.
  • Remember spelling was fluid: Matilda, Maud and Mahaut are the same name, as are Isolde, Iseult and Ysolt. Choosing a regional spelling is a cheap way to signal origin.

Frequently asked questions

Are these real medieval names?

Most are period-accurate combinations of attested given names and bynames, and a number are real historical or legendary figures (Hereward the Wake, Hildegard von Bingen, Owain Glyndwr, Brian Boru). The fantasy-medieval section uses real medieval given names with invented place-based surnames.

What period does 'medieval' cover here?

Roughly the 9th to 15th centuries, with the bulk in the 11th to 14th. Anglo-Saxon names like Aethelstan and Eadgyth sit at the early end; Italian merchant names like Lorenzo di Castelvecchio and English trade surnames like Fletcher and Chandler sit at the late end.

Can I use these for D&D or a fantasy novel?

Yes. Human characters in most fantasy settings are modelled on medieval Europe, so these names drop straight in. Use the French and German nobles for courtly characters, the trade and 'atte' names for commoners, and the Welsh, Irish and Norse patronymics for border or island cultures.

How were medieval women's names formed?

The same way as men's: a given name such as Matilda, Agnes or Alys plus a byname. Women sometimes carried feminine trade forms (Webster, Baxter and Brewster were originally female weavers, bakers and brewers), a father's or husband's name, or a place. Noblewomen used 'de' or 'of' plus their family's lands.

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All 500 medieval 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: 60 names

  • Abbess Hilda of Whitby
  • Ada de Warenne
  • Adam Marsh
  • Adam the Carter
  • Adela Winterbourne
  • Adelaïde de Vergy
  • Adelheid von Andechs
  • Adelinde Brauer
  • Aelfgifu of Wessex
  • Aelfric Fenwood
  • Aelfthryth Spinner
  • Aelfwine Arrowsmith
  • Aelric Brightblade
  • Aethelflaed Tamworth
  • Aethelgifu Embroiderer
  • Aethelstan of Mercia
  • Aethelwold Bridgemaker
  • Afonso Henriques
  • Agatha Pyecroft
  • Agnes Copperwood
  • Agnes von Staufen
  • Alaric Thornwood
  • Alberic de Vere
  • Albreda Fauconberg
  • Alda di Castelbarco
  • Aldgyth Fairfax
  • Aldith Coldwater
  • Aldo Carbonari
  • Aldonza de Haro
  • Aldous Penhallow

A, continued

  • Aldric of Wexcombe
  • Alexander Darell
  • Alice Carbonell
  • Aliénor de Brienne
  • Aline Maltravers
  • Alison Brewster
  • Alizon Morel
  • Álvar Fáñez
  • Alwin Ravenscroft
  • Alys Webster
  • Amabilia Staunton
  • Amaury de Montfort
  • Ambrogio Lorenzetti
  • Amice Hollins
  • Amphelisia Courtenay
  • Angharad ferch Owain
  • Anna Komnene
  • Annora Bissett
  • Anselm Brightwater
  • Antonia Frescobaldi
  • Aoife Ní Mhurchadha
  • Arnaud de Périgord
  • Arnulf Steinmetz
  • Ascelina Longsword
  • Aude de Montbazon
  • Aude la Belle
  • Avelina Strangeways
  • Aveline Thornmere
  • Avice Thatcher
  • Azalais de Porcairagues

B: 34 names

  • Baldwin de Redvers
  • Bartholomew Kempe
  • Bartolomea Bardi
  • Beatrice Portinari
  • Beatrice Quartermain
  • Beatritz de Dia
  • Beatrix Lovell
  • Benedict Rokeby
  • Beorn Ashenhurst
  • Beornwyn Beekeeper
  • Bérenger de Tours
  • Berenguela de Barcelona
  • Berthe au Grand Pied
  • Bertram of Ludlow
  • Bertrand de Born
  • Bet Netmaker
  • Bice Tornaquinci
  • Birger Jarl
  • Blanche de Montferrat
  • Blanchefleur of Corbenic
  • Bradamante of Clairmont
  • Brangaine of Ireland
  • Brangwen Ashcroft
  • Brannoc Ravenhill
  • Brian Boru
  • Brian de Insula
  • Brictric Cobbold
  • Brihtric Falconer
  • Brother Anselm of Glastonbury
  • Brother Cadfael
  • Brunetto Latini
  • Brunhild Rothenbacher
  • Brunhilde Ravenwood
  • Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti

C: 24 names

  • Caedmon Ravenscar
  • Cangrande della Scala
  • Caterina Visconti
  • Cecily Underhill
  • Cedric Wolfsbane
  • Christiana Wolverton
  • Cino da Pistoia
  • Cissota Glover
  • Clarice Hollowood
  • Clemence Tanner
  • Clement Ashcombe
  • Coenred Blackmere
  • Colin le Charretier
  • Colle Palfreyman
  • Constance Pelham
  • Corso Donati
  • Cosimo Ruffolo
  • Costanza d'Altavilla
  • Cressida Wolfhollow
  • Cristina Pecche
  • Cuthbert Fallow
  • Cwenhild Herbwife
  • Cyneburga Elmham
  • Cynric Glassblower

D: 14 names

  • Dafydd ap Gruffudd
  • Dagonet the Fool
  • Dame Julian of Norwich
  • Dawe Cartwright
  • Denise de Scoland
  • Derbforgaill ingen Murchada
  • Diarmait Mac Murchada
  • Dickon Smith
  • Diego Laínez
  • Dietrich von Bern
  • Dindrane of Carbonek
  • Dionisia Whitlock
  • Drogo de Beaumont
  • Dunstan Wolfcroft

E: 49 names

  • Eadburh Wulfsdaughter
  • Eadgar Bowyer
  • Eadgyth Alewife
  • Eadhild Silkwoman
  • Eadmund Stonewick
  • Eadric Streona
  • Ealdgyth of Bamburgh
  • Ealdgyth Sempstress
  • Ealhswith Brightling
  • Eberhard Wiedemann
  • Edeva Hamersley
  • Edith Skinner
  • Edric Blackthorn
  • Edwin Stormcroft
  • Efa ferch Madog
  • Eglantine Rushworth
  • Elaine of Astolat
  • Elaine of Corbenic
  • Eleanor Ashworth
  • Eleanor de Vesci
  • Elen ferch Llywelyn
  • Elena Bakere
  • Elfreda Stonemoor
  • Elfrida Hollowell

E, continued

  • Elias Marmion
  • Elisabeth von Thüringen
  • Ella Wenlock
  • Elswyth Brightwell
  • Elvira de Toro
  • Emelina Crispin
  • Emma atte Well
  • Emma Burnell
  • Emmot Tailor
  • Enguerrand de Coucy
  • Enid of Caerleon
  • Enrico Spinelli
  • Eormenhild Stokeley
  • Ermengarde de Beaumont
  • Ermengarde de Narbonne
  • Ermengarde Stour
  • Ermessende de Carcassonne
  • Esclarmonde de Foix
  • Estefanía de Armengol
  • Estrid Svendsdatter
  • Eudo Dapifer
  • Eustacia Wakefield
  • Eva Gascoigne
  • Everard de Montclair
  • Ezzelino da Romano

F: 12 names

  • Farinata degli Uberti
  • Felicia Ormesby
  • Fergus of Galloway
  • Fernán González
  • Fiammetta Salviati
  • Fierabras of Alexandria
  • Filippa Tebaldi
  • Folco Portinari
  • Foulques d'Anjou
  • Friar Tuck
  • Friedrich von Hohenstaufen
  • Fulk de Courtenay

G: 37 names

  • Ganelon of Mayence
  • Garsenda de Forcalquier
  • Gaston de Béarn
  • Gawen Frostholm
  • Gemma Altoviti
  • Geoffrey of Monkswell
  • Geoffroi de Villehardouin
  • Gerard Fiennes
  • Gernot Eisenhauer
  • Gervase de Cornhill
  • Gib Hayward
  • Gilbert Basset
  • Gilbert Fitzhugh
  • Gillian Dyer
  • Ginevra degli Albizzi
  • Gisela von Schwaben
  • Godeleva Boteler
  • Godfrey Ashdown
  • Godiva Sherwin
  • Godric Hawkmoor
  • Godric Saddler
  • Godwin Ealdorman
  • Gormflaith ingen Murchada
  • Gottfried von Straßburg
  • Gruoch ingen Boite
  • Gualtieri Malaspina
  • Guido Cavalcanti
  • Guidoriccio da Fogliano
  • Guilhem de Cabestanh
  • Guillaume de Vermandois
  • Guillén de Castro
  • Guiote la Fournière
  • Gunnora Ferrers
  • Guy of Warwick
  • Gwendolen Ashfall
  • Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd
  • Gyda Eiriksdottir

H: 27 names

  • Halden Ironwood
  • Hallveig Ormsdóttir
  • Hamon le Despenser
  • Hankin Pottere
  • Harald Hardrada
  • Hartmann von Aue
  • Hawise Baxter
  • Hedwig Schwarzkopf
  • Heinrich der Löwe
  • Helewise Crowther
  • Heloise Frostmantle
  • Henry Dodd
  • Herbert Pauncefoot
  • Hereward Wake
  • Hick Plowman
  • Hildegard von Bingen
  • Hildegarde Frostwood
  • Hildegyth Oakhurst
  • Hob Ostler
  • Hodge Woodward
  • Hodierna de Lisle
  • Hugh Malbisse
  • Hugh Nethercote
  • Huguette Chastelain
  • Humphrey de Bohun
  • Huon of Bordeaux
  • Hywel Dda

I: 15 names

  • Iacopo Strozzi
  • Ida Sparrowhawk
  • Idonea Musgrave
  • Inês de Castro
  • Ingeborg Haraldsdóttir
  • Ingrith Harcourt
  • Irene Doukaina
  • Irmgard von Sponheim
  • Isabeau de Roucy
  • Isabel Crewe
  • Isemay Conyers
  • Iseult of the White Hands
  • Isolda Greymarsh
  • Isolde Merriweather
  • Ivo de Grandison

J: 14 names

  • Jankin Miller
  • Jaquette Rousselle
  • Jaufré Rudel
  • Jehan le Tisserand
  • Joan Shepster
  • Joan Tredgold
  • Joanna Bramhall
  • Jocelyn Redmayne
  • John Alderbury
  • Jordan de Say
  • Joyce Vavasour
  • Juet Ironmonger
  • Juliana Sadler
  • Jutta Hasenclever

K: 3 names

  • Katherine Aylward
  • Konrad von Falkenstein
  • Kunigunde von Luxemburg

L: 26 names

  • Lady Elowen Marchmont
  • Lady Ismay Fairholme
  • Lady Morwenna Thornbury
  • Lady Rowena Ashgrove
  • Lady Seraphine Duskmere
  • Lady Ysolde Ravensworth
  • Lambert Goldsmith
  • Lamorak de Galis
  • Lapa Cecchi
  • Laudine of Landuc
  • Leofgifu Withersfield
  • Leofric Aethelredson
  • Leofric Horsemaster
  • Leofrun Candlemaker
  • Leofstan Thornfield
  • Leofwin Ashmoor
  • Leonor de Guzmán
  • Lettice Greenhalgh
  • Liliane Ingoldsby
  • Linnet Hawksworth
  • Lioba Thornhaven
  • Llywelyn ap Iorwerth
  • Lorenzo di Castelvecchio
  • Lucan the Butler
  • Lucy Ferrand
  • Lynette of Lyonesse

M: 36 names

  • Mabel of Tavistock
  • Macbeth mac Findlaích
  • Maddoc Greystone
  • Madog ap Maredudd
  • Mafalda de Saboia
  • Magnus Barefoot
  • Magota Hosier
  • Mahaut d'Artois
  • Malcolm Canmore
  • Margaret Brockhurst
  • Margaret of Scotland
  • Margery Wainwright
  • Margherita Medici
  • Maria Argyropoulina
  • Maria de Ventadorn
  • Marion de la Fontaine
  • Mariot Spinster
  • Mariota Hatherley
  • Matilda Fitzwalter
  • Maud Scrivener
  • Maud Thorne
  • Mechthild von Magdeburg
  • Mencía de Lara
  • Merrick Greywater
  • Michael Psellos
  • Mildrith Oxgate
  • Miles de Warenne
  • Millicent Draper
  • Mirabel Greyhaven
  • Monna Tessa
  • Morcar of Northumbria
  • Morgause of Orkney
  • Morwenna Stormwell
  • Mother Hrotsvitha
  • Muirchertach Ua Briain
  • Muriel Thornycroft

N: 7 names

  • Nan Saltere
  • Neri Acciaiuoli
  • Nest ferch Rhys
  • Nicholas Harrowfield
  • Nigel Tregonwell
  • Nimue of the Lake
  • Nuno Álvares Pereira

O: 18 names

  • Odo de Bayeux
  • Ogier le Danois
  • Olaf Tryggvason
  • Oliver of Vienne
  • Orabel Fenwick
  • Ordgar Nettlecombe
  • Oriane de Valcourt
  • Oriel Scudamore
  • Orlando Pazzi
  • Orsina Soderini
  • Osbern Giffard
  • Osbert Cooper
  • Osmund Fairweather
  • Osric of Wendover
  • Oswald Bellfounder
  • Oswin Blackwater
  • Oswy Thornhill
  • Owain Glyndŵr

P: 16 names

  • Pagan de Mohun
  • Palamedes the Saracen
  • Parnell Webbe
  • Payn of Hurstbourne
  • Peire Vidal
  • Pelayo de Oviedo
  • Perkin Reeve
  • Perrine Lavoisier
  • Perrot Maillard
  • Petronilla Chandler
  • Philippa Hardcastle
  • Piccarda Donati
  • Piero Capponi
  • Piers Atwood
  • Piers Plowman
  • Prioress Eglentyne

R: 28 names

  • Ragnelle of Inglewood
  • Ragnhild Óláfsdóttir
  • Raimbaut d'Aurenga
  • Ralph Dymoke
  • Randolph Blunt
  • Ranulf de Glanville
  • Raoul de Tancarville
  • Reginald Longshanks
  • Renaud de Châtillon
  • Renaud de Montauban
  • Rhys ap Tewdwr
  • Richard Cheyne
  • Richard Talbot
  • Robert Fitzalan
  • Robin Hood
  • Robin Portemer
  • Roderic Mistvale
  • Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar
  • Roger Holloway
  • Roger Mortemer
  • Rognvald Kali Kolsson
  • Rohese Giffard
  • Rohesia Fuller
  • Roland Ironside
  • Rosalind Wolfmoor
  • Rosamond Hawkwood
  • Rosamund Clifford
  • Rudolf von Habsburg

S: 29 names

  • Sabina de Lacy
  • Saewulf Mariner
  • Sancha de Castilla
  • Sanchia Tyes
  • Savaric Fitzgeldewin
  • Selvaggia Vergiolesi
  • Senana ferch Caradog
  • Serlo Fitzgerald
  • Sibilla Danvers
  • Sibyl Atte Mill
  • Sibylle de Lusignan
  • Siegfried Armbruster
  • Sigeberht Boatwright
  • Sigeric Longfellow
  • Simon Mercer
  • Simone Peruzzi
  • Sir Alaric Wolfenden
  • Sir Aldous Greyhallow
  • Sir Corwin Blackmere
  • Sir Gareth Stormhold
  • Sir Roderick Stonegarde
  • Sir Tristram Fallowfield
  • Sismonda Malatesta
  • Sister Clemence of Barking
  • Snorri Sturluson
  • Somerled of Argyll
  • Stephen Coldwell
  • Sweyn Forkbeard
  • Sybilla Ravenmere

T: 15 names

  • Taddeo Rucellai
  • Tancredi d'Altavilla
  • Teresa de León
  • Tessa Guicciardini
  • Theobald Swinford
  • Theodora Palaiologina
  • Theophania Ashby
  • Thibaut de Champagne
  • Thomas Greystoke
  • Thorgerd Egilsdottir
  • Thurstan Fletcher
  • Thyra Danebod
  • Tibby Fisher
  • Turold Baskerville
  • Turpin of Reims

U: 4 names

  • Ugolino della Gherardesca
  • Uhtred Bebbanburg
  • Ulrich von Liechtenstein
  • Urraca de Zamora

V: 1 name

  • Violante de Aragón

W: 26 names

  • Waleran Bigod
  • Walkelin de Ferrers
  • Walter Sallow
  • Walter Tyrell
  • Walther von der Vogelweide
  • Warin of Harrowgate
  • Warin Sutcliffe
  • Wat Tyler
  • Wigmund Bramford
  • Wigod Heathcote
  • Wigstan Cordwainer
  • Wilburga Lindsey
  • Wilfrid Moorcastle
  • Wilkin Fowler
  • William Peverel
  • William the Lion
  • Wilmot Dunstable
  • Winifred Fetherston
  • Wolfram von Eschenbach
  • Wulfhere Stonecutter
  • Wulfric Stonebridge
  • Wulfrun Dunholme
  • Wulfstan Shipwright
  • Wymarc Daubeney
  • Wymond Pinder
  • Wynflaed Harrowden

X: 1 name

  • Ximena de Valdés

Y: 3 names

  • Yolande de Dreux
  • Ysabel la Boulangère
  • Ysolt Weaver

Z: 1 name

  • Zoe Porphyrogenita