Medieval Name Generator
Medieval English names in their documented form: a baptismal given name plus a byname from a trade, a place, a father or a nickname, with meanings.
7,864 combinations
Male and female medieval names, each with the meaning of every element shown.
- Laurence Chapman
Laurence laurelled + Chapman pedlar
- Johanna atte Wode
Johanna god is gracious + atte Wode at the wood
- Michael Colier
Michael like god + Colier charcoal burner
- Alys Sempster
Alys noble kind + Sempster seamstress
- Hugh Jackson
Hugh heart and mind + Jackson son of Jack
- Mildred Shepster
Mildred gentle strength + Shepster cloth cutter
- Peter Swifte
Peter rock + Swifte quick
- Alison atte Crosse
Alison noble kind + atte Crosse at the cross
- Gilbert Wilkinson
Gilbert bright pledge + Wilkinson son of William
- Katerine Spinster
Katerine pure + Spinster spinner
- Roger Whitlock
Roger famous spear + Whitlock white hair
- Elizabeth Bradforde
Elizabeth oath of god + Bradforde broad ford
- Edward Davison
Edward wealth guardian + Davison son of David
- Audrey Glovere
Audrey noble strength + Glovere glove maker
- Herbert atte Brigge
Herbert bright army + atte Brigge at the bridge
- Alison Hardy
Alison noble kind + Hardy bold
- Bernard atte Forde
Bernard brave bear + atte Forde at the ford
- Mildred Malleson
Mildred gentle strength + Malleson daughter of Mary
- Simon Ferrour
Simon listener + Ferrour ironworker
- Katherine Sibson
Katherine pure + Sibson daughter of Sibyl
- Orm Smale
Orm serpent + Smale slender
- Eleanor Tillotson
Eleanor shining light + Tillotson daughter of Matilda
- Maurice Hayward
Maurice dark skinned + Hayward hedge warden
- Eleanor Ibbotson
Eleanor shining light + Ibbotson daughter of Isabel
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How medieval names are built
¶After 1066 the English abandoned their own name stock inside three generations, and by the poll tax returns of the 1370s and 1380s a handful of Norman and saints' names carried most of the population. John, William, Robert, Richard and Thomas account for the bulk of the men; Alice, Matilda, Agnes, Joan and Isabel for the women. That is the problem medieval naming had to solve, because a parish with six Johns in it needs something after the name.
A byname did one of four jobs. It named a trade, so Fletcher feathered arrows, Webbe wove cloth and Chapman hawked goods from a pack. It named a place, either the village a family came from or the feature they lived beside, which is what atte Welle and atte Grene record. It named a father, using the pet form people really said, so Hobson and Dobson are both Robert's son and Hodgeson is Roger's. Or it simply described the man: Longshanks, Blount, Curteys.
A byname hardened into a surname when it stopped describing its bearer and passed to his children regardless. That happened unevenly. Wealthy families in London and the south were largely hereditary by the middle of the fourteenth century, while labourers in the north and in Wales were still being renamed every generation two centuries later. Trade bynames also kept a feminine form while they were live descriptions, which is why a woman who wove was a Webster, a woman who baked a Baxter.
More medieval names
Male medieval names
- Robin Baker bright fame, bread maker
- Giles Lange young goat, tall
- Colin atte Grene victory of people, at the green
- Alfred Bradforde elf counsel, broad ford
- Nicholas Hobson victory of people, son of Robert
- Martin Smale of mars, slender
- Reginald Meke counsel ruler, gentle
- Stephen Fitzwilliam crown, son of William
- Dob atte Crosse bright fame, at the cross
- Wat atte Welle army ruler, at the well
- Nicholas Hodgeson victory of people, son of Roger
- Herbert Longshanks bright army, long legs
- Colin Bywater victory of people, by the water
- Gamel Ferrour old, ironworker
- Theobald Wilson bold people, son of Will
- Laurence Milton laurelled, mill settlement
- Philip Underhill horse lover, below the hill
- Clement Blak merciful, dark haired
Female medieval names
- Eva Chaundler life, candle maker
- Anne Webster grace, weaver
- Malle Ibbotson beloved, daughter of Isabel
- Mary Sisson beloved, daughter of Cecily
- Eleanor Sempster shining light, seamstress
- Clarice Hukster bright, pedlar
- Beatrice Lange voyager, tall
- Sibyl Thorneby seeress, thorn settlement
- Audrey Milton noble strength, mill settlement
- Lettice Drinkwater gladness, water drinker
- Bett atte Halle oath of god, at the hall
- Elena atte Wode torch, at the wood
- Elizabeth Bywater oath of god, by the water
- Cecily Sibson blind, daughter of Sibyl
- Christiana Dexter follower of christ, cloth dyer
- Basilia Longshanks royal, long legs
- Mildred Palmere gentle strength, pilgrim
- Nell Annison shining light, daughter of Agnes
Questions
What are some medieval male names?
John, William, Robert, Richard, Thomas, Walter, Hugh, Roger and Ralph cover most medieval Englishmen, and the pet forms are where the character is: Wat for Walter, Hob and Dob for Robert, Hodge for Roger, Hick for Richard, Jankin and Jack for John. Pair one with a byname and you get John Fletcher, Hodge Chapman or Wat Wilkinson, which is exactly how a fourteenth-century court roll would write them down.
What are some medieval female names?
Alice, Matilda, Agnes, Joan, Isabel, Cecily, Emma, Margery and Juliana are the commonest, and Maud is the same name as Matilda while Isabel is the same name as Elizabeth, so a family could use both without repeating itself. Pet forms were as normal as they were for men: Malle and Mariot for Mary, Ibb for Isabel, Sib for Sibyl, Magge for Margaret. Alice Webster and Cecily Baxter read as period entries.
Are these real medieval names?
Yes. Every given name here is attested in English records between roughly 1200 and 1450, and every byname is a real occupational, locative, patronymic or descriptive form from the same sources, including the pet forms that look modern but are not. The meanings shown are the standard etymologies of the names, not decoration. Where a name's derivation is genuinely disputed among scholars it was left out rather than guessed at.
Can I use these for a D&D or fantasy character?
Yes, and they solve a problem invented names cannot. A byname tells the table who your character is before you have spoken: Agnes Litster dyes cloth, William Hobson has a father worth naming, Alice Underhill lives somewhere specific, Hugh Longshanks is unmistakable across a room. For a grounded human settlement this beats apostrophes, and for a low-magic campaign it gives non-player characters instant social position.
Did medieval people have surnames?
Not at first. Before about 1200 an English commoner had one name and, when a clerk needed to distinguish him, a description added on the spot; the same man could be Robert Smyth in one entry and Robert atte Welle in the next. Those descriptions became fixed and heritable between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, earliest among landholders in the south and latest among the poor and in the far north.