In my research for Vampire Crusader and Vampire Outlaw I needed a selection of period names for the fictional characters. Almost every man recorded in history at this time is called William, Richard, John or Robert and the women are all Matilda, Eleanor or Isabella. In a work of fiction, though, it gets confusing when too many minor characters have exactly the same name.

Below are two lists of the most common women’s and men’s names from the early 13th century in England, taken from a selection of online sources that list names from contemporary documents. Each name has many variations but I will give the most common or my preferred version. Many names were recorded as a Latinised version of what would have been the name as it was used in every day life (for example Osbertus in the record would have been called Osbert by his mother and, no doubt, Bert – or Ozzy? – by his mates) so I have used the Anglicised version.

There are different sources and different methodologies for collecting and ordering the names. I will put them in what seems to be a rough order of frequency in the records but there will be all kinds of selection biases and regional variations. But generally speaking the ones near the top will be more commonly encountered. The first 10 or so in the women’s list and the first 15 or so in the men’s list probably accounted for 60%-70% of all given names.

Of course, there are more men recorded than there are women and it is likely that there were fewer standard options for women’s names however for both men and women there are a number of unusual names that appear only once. Presumably some of the ones near the bottom were pet names or nicknames that stuck.

Women’s names

Matilda

Alice

Eleanor

Maud

Agnes

Cicily

Edith

Emma

Isabella

Mabel

Katherine

Margaret

Sibyl / Sibilla

Alviva

Joan

Christiana

Julianna

Eva

Gunnilda

Avice

Beatrix

Cecilia

Estrid

Lucia

Margary

Anabel

Rose

Alma

Ida

Sarah

Gelle

Isolda

Magge

Wymark

Gemma

Godyth

Godith

Hawisia

Idonea

Ivett

Jonetta

Lettice (yep)

Malle

Malyna

Mariota

Meriilda

Nalle

Parnell

Men’s Names

William

Richard

John

Robert

Hugo

Roger

Walter

Thomas

Ralph

Geoffrey

Henry

Adam

Peter

Simon

Nicholas

Alan

Gilbert

Stephen

Reginald

Alexander

Osbert

Randolph

Norman

Eustace

Andrew

Arnold

Godfrey

Herbert

Warin

Benedict

Edward

Everard

Guy

Edric

Elias

Gregory

Humphrey

Isaac

Jocelyn

Philip

Alfred

Arthur

Martin

Milo

Adelard

Albert

Christopher

I hope you find these lists useful or at least interesting. If you have any questions please get it touch.

Sources