My bad luck is your good fortune, since I'm feeling in a sharing kind of mood. Here is a list of "common" vs "uncommon" names in medieval England. These particular names were extracted from The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, by E.G. Withycombe. (Oh, these are all male names. I haven't retyped my list of female names yet.)
Common names:
Acelin, Acelet (common 13 C)
Ancel, Ancelin, Ancelot
Aylmer
Berengar, Bereniger, Benger (12-13 C)
Bernard, Barnard, Barnet (12 C)
Bevis, Beves, Bovo, Bobo (12-13 C)
Brice, Bryce, Bricot (13-14 C)
David (12 C)
Edmund, Edmond
Edward
Fulk, Fauke, Fowke, Fawke, Fulcher
Geoffrey, Geffrey, Geoffroi, Geffrei, Geffrai, Jaufre (12-15
C)
Gerard, Gairhard, Gyrerd, Garrett, Garrat, Garit, Girard
Gilbert, Gylbart, Gylbard, Gilbred
Gregory, Gregour
Robert (Rob, Hob, Dob, Nob), Robin, Robard, Robyn
Walter, Wauter, Gualter, Gwalter
William, Guillielm, Guillaume, Willelm, Wylymot, Gillet, Gillot, Gilliame, Guillot, Gilmyn
Uncommon or rare names:
Adrian (12 C on, rare)
Amyas, Amiot (12-13 C, rare)
Charles, Carle, Charlet (Norman, rare)
Dominic, Dominick (13 C, uncommon in England)
Edgar, Etgar (Old English, rare after Norman Conquest)
Edwin, Eaduin (Old English, rare after 13 C)
Egbert (Old English, rare after Norman Conquest)
Emery, Emeric, Emerick (intro by Normans, never common)
Gabriel, Gabrell, Gabryell (uncommon)
Joseph (infrequent)
Samuel (rare)
Tancred (uncommon in England)
Victor (1200s, but rare)
Vivian, Phythian, Fithian (12 C, uncommon)
Warren, Warin, Guarin (rare after 14 C)
Wilfred, Wilfrid (rare after Norman Conquest)Enjoy! When I retype the women's names, I'll share some with you, too.
3 comments:
Love it! Awesome blog post and very helpful!
Konstanz Silverbow
nothoughts2small.blogspot.com
Hi Joyce,
I just adopted a kitten and named him Wilfred. It's my hubby's middle name. We call our new baby Willie though. Or Wills.
Hope you're well!
Mel K.
Meljprincess AT aol DOT com
Hi Mel! How fun that you named your cat Wilfred. I've always liked that name.
Thanks, Konstanz! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. :-)
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