Medieval names in Britain changed completely in 300 years. In 1066 the commonest men’s names in England were Ælfric, Alwine, Godric and Godwine; by 1381 they were John, William, Thomas and Robert, and the women were Alice, Agnes, Joan and Margery. In the Suffolk poll tax lists of 1381, Johannes (John) turns up 603 times, more than William, Thomas and Robert put together, by our count of the lists Edgar Powell printed in 1896. Scotland and Wales had their own favourites: Patrick and Duncan in the Ragman Rolls, Madog and Dafydd in the Record of Caernarvon.
This guide is part of our Scottish Names collection. Browse the full Scottish Names directory, go back a step to the Anglo-Saxon names guide for the two-part names of the 1066 column, or see how many of these became family names in our British surnames guide.
This is for writers and game masters who want names that a real clerk wrote down, for family historians trying to read an old document, and for parents after something with a few hundred years on it. You get a finder for 208 names, the top names from each document side by side, a section for each record, the women’s names, and which ones babies still get today.
A wee bit of method first. Every name here was found in one of five records: Domesday in 1066 and 1086, the Ragman Rolls of 1296 in Scotland, the Record of Caernarvon with its surveys of 1352 in north Wales, and the Suffolk poll tax lists of 1381. We counted the names ourselves from the scanned texts and the PASE database, so the numbers are honest but rough, and we say how rough in each section.
Two Scots Abroad · Scottish names
Medieval name finder
208 first names from five real medieval records. Filter by the document, the nation, man or woman, and where the name came from. Each card shows what it means and how often it turns up in each record.
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What were the most common medieval names?
John and William for men, Alice, Agnes and Joan for women, almost everywhere after 1200. The table below puts the top five from each record next to each other. Read across and you can watch the Norman Conquest happen: the English names of 1066 are gone from the top by 1086, and the Norman and saints’ names that replaced them were still on top 300 years later.
| Rank | Domesday 1066 | Domesday 1086 | Ragman Rolls 1296 | Caernarvon 1352 | Suffolk 1381 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ælfric (238) | William (63) | John (410) | Madog | John (603) |
| 2 | Alwine (227) | Robert (34) | William (260) | Dafydd | William (218) |
| 3 | Godric (223) | Hugh (23) | Robert (138) | Ieuan | Thomas (182) |
| 4 | Godwine (209) | Ralph (23) | Thomas (120) | Hywel | Robert (124) |
| 5 | Almær (152) | Roger (22) | Adam (103) | Goronwy | Henry (45) |
| Top woman | Ælfgifu (38) | Eadgyth and Ælfgifu (4 each) | Margaret (7) | Efa | Alice (257) |
Two things jump out. First, the name pool shrank: a handful of names covered a huge share of people by the 1300s. Second, John wins in Wales too, in disguise. Ieuan, third in the Caernarvon surveys, is one of the Welsh names derived from Latin Johannes, the same root as John.
1066: English names before the Conquest
Domesday Book is the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales carried out for William the Conqueror and usually dated to 1086. Because it records who held land in 1066 as well as in 1086, it is a before-and-after picture of a whole country’s names. The PASE Domesday database (Oxford, King’s College London and Cambridge) identifies the individual people, which is what we counted.
Ælfric
Written as: Ælfric. Meaning: elf + ruler. Roots: Old English. Found in: Domesday, 1066 (238); Domesday, 1086 (16).
Elf plus ruler, and the commonest name among English landholders in 1066, with 238 of them. By 1086 only 16 Ælfrics still held land as lords or subtenants. That drop, repeated across every English name, is the Conquest in one number. Our Old English names guide covers the ones that survived.
Godwine
Written as: Godwine. Meaning: god or good + friend. Roots: Old English. Found in: Domesday, 1066 (209); Domesday, 1086 (19).
God or good plus friend. 209 landholders in 1066, and the name of Earl Godwin of Wessex, Harold’s father. Nineteen still held land in 1086, a better survival rate than most, but the name was on its way down.
Thorkil
Written as: Thorkil. Meaning: Thor + helmet, cauldron. Roots: Norse. Found in: Domesday, 1066 (65); Domesday, 1086 (10).
Not every name in 1066 was English. Thorkil, Thor plus helmet or sacrificial cauldron according to Store norske leksikon, was held by 65 landholders, and PASE also lists Ulfkil, Swein, Ulf and Ketil among the common ones. That is the Danelaw showing through, and our Viking names guide picks up the Norse side.
1086: the Normans arrive
Twenty years later the lords are different people with different names. Wikipedia’s Domesday article notes that the book usually records only the Christian name of an under-tenant, and that scholars who have identified them found that most have foreign Christian names. Our count bears that out: of the 1086 lords and subtenants, William, Robert, Hugh, Ralph and Roger lead, and the highest English name, Godwine, is sixth.
William
Written as: William, Willelmus. Meaning: will, desire + helmet. Roots: Norman French. Found in: Domesday, 1086 (63); Ragman Rolls, 1296 (260); Suffolk poll tax, 1381 (218).
Will or desire plus helmet. Wikipedia traces it to Proto-Germanic Wiljahelmaz, which came into Medieval Latin as Willelmus, and Willelmus is exactly how the Suffolk poll tax clerks wrote it in 1381. 63 lords in 1086, 260 mentions in the Ragman Rolls index and 218 in Suffolk. It still did well in 2025, with 1,456 babies in England and Wales.
Hugh
Written as: Hugh, Hugo. Meaning: mind, spirit. Roots: Norman French. Found in: Domesday, 1086 (23); Ragman Rolls, 1296 (55); Suffolk poll tax, 1381 (4).
Mind or spirit, a short form of Germanic names that began with that element. 23 lords in 1086 and 55 mentions in the Ragman Rolls, where it was clearly at home in Scotland too. Only four in the Suffolk lists, though, so by 1381 it had faded in East Anglia at least.
If you have a Norman name in the family tree, our Scottish Norman surnames guide shows how these incoming families put down roots north of the border.
1296: Scottish names in the Ragman Rolls
The Ragman Rolls are the documents by which Scotland’s nobility and gentry swore allegiance to Edward I of England, first in 1291 to 1292 and again in 1296, when Edward collected homage on his progress through Scotland and at the parliament of Berwick. The Bannatyne Club printed both in 1834, and we counted names in the index to that edition. It is a list of landholders and burgesses, not of everyone, and many people appear twice, in Latin and in French, so be canny (careful) and treat the numbers as a ranking.
Here is the surprising bit: by 1296 the top of the Scottish list looks very like England’s. John, William, Robert, Thomas and Adam lead, and Walter, Henry and Richard follow. The Gaelic names are there, but further down.
Patrick
Written as: Patricius, Patrik. Meaning: nobleman, patrician. Roots: Bible, saints and Latin. Found in: Ragman Rolls, 1296 (46).
From the Roman name Patricius, a patrician or nobleman. 46 mentions in the Ragman Rolls, far more than in the English records, where it is absent from the Suffolk lists we counted. Still a steady choice in Scotland: 44 babies in 2025, and 375 in England and Wales.
Duncan
Written as: Duncanus, Dunkan. Meaning: dark or chief + uncertain. Roots: Gaelic. Found in: Ragman Rolls, 1296 (25).
Gaelic Donnchadh. Wikipedia gives donn, dark or chief, for the first part, and notes the final n of Duncan came from the Latin form Duncanus, which is exactly how it appears in the 1296 index. 25 mentions, the most of any Gaelic name we checked.
Malcolm
Written as: Malcolmus, Malcolm. Meaning: devotee of St Columba. Roots: Gaelic. Found in: Ragman Rolls, 1296 (7).
Devotee of St Columba, from Máel Coluim. Only seven mentions in the Ragman Rolls, even though it was the name of Malcolm III, St Margaret’s husband. A good example of how a famous name and a common one are not the same thing. In 2025, 12 babies in Scotland got it.
Good to know: this guide counts first names only. For Scotland in more depth, from the Ragman Rolls to the Stewart kings, the Scottish royal last names guide covers the family names that ruled.
1352: Welsh names in the Record of Caernarvon
The Record of Caernarvon, printed by the Record Commission in 1838, is mostly made up of surveys of north Wales taken in the 26th year of Edward III, which is 1352. Welsh scribes wrote patronymics, so you get names like Madog ap Iorwerth, Madog son of Iorwerth, again and again. The Wikipedia article on Welsh surnames says that in 1292, 48 per cent of Welsh names were patronymics, and in some parishes over 70 per cent.
The clerks abbreviated heavily, writing Mad for Madog and Teg for Tegwared, which leaves the counts in a right fankle (tangle). We give bands instead: very common, common and occasional.
Madog
Written as: Madoc, Mad. Meaning: uncertain. Roots: Welsh. Found in: Record of Caernarvon, 1352 (very common).
The name we found most often in the Caernarvon surveys, written Madoc or simply Mad. Wiktionary traces it to Middle Welsh Madoc; the meaning itself is uncertain. Not in the 2025 baby lists, which makes it one of the great unused medieval names.
Dafydd
Written as: Dauid. Meaning: Welsh form of David, beloved. Roots: Welsh. Found in: Record of Caernarvon, 1352 (very common).
The Welsh form of David, beloved, and second in our Caernarvon count. Only 11 babies in England and Wales got Dafydd in 2025, so it is a classic that has gone quiet.
Nest
Written as: Nest. Meaning: uncertain. Roots: Welsh. Found in: Record of Caernarvon, 1352 (occasional).
A rare woman’s name in a survey full of men, and it often appears as ap Nest, so a man named after his mother. Wiktionary notes it as one form of the name of Gruffudd ap Cynan’s daughter. For the modern Welsh names that grew out of these, see our Welsh names guide.
1381: English names in the poll tax
The third poll tax, as Wikipedia explains, charged a flat 12 pence on everyone over 15, and attempts to collect it led to the stramash (uproar) of 1381, the Peasants’ Revolt. The collectors’ lists name ordinary villagers, women included, which Domesday and the Ragman Rolls mostly do not. Edgar Powell printed the Suffolk lists in 1896, and he warns that they cover only some fifty places, all that survive for a county of nearly 500 parishes. So this is Suffolk, not all England, but it is the most ordinary set of names here.
John
Written as: John, Johannes, Johan. Meaning: God has been gracious. Roots: Bible, saints and Latin. Found in: Domesday, 1086 (3); Ragman Rolls, 1296 (410); Suffolk poll tax, 1381 (603).
God has been gracious, from Hebrew through Latin Johannes. 603 Johannes in the Suffolk lists, against 218 Williams, 182 Thomases and 124 Roberts. In Domesday there were only three Johns among the 1086 lords, so its rise came later. In 2025 it was given to 296 boys in England and Wales and 50 in Scotland.
Alice
Written as: Alice, Alicia, Alise. Meaning: noble (a short form of Adelaide). Roots: Norman French. Found in: Domesday, 1086 (1); Ragman Rolls, 1296 (5); Suffolk poll tax, 1381 (257).
A short form of the Germanic name behind Adelaide, built on a word for noble. Written Alicia, it was the commonest woman’s name in Suffolk in 1381, with 257, ahead of Agnes (166) and Joan (156). Alice is still a favourite: 825 girls in England and Wales and 75 in Scotland in 2025.
Joan
Written as: Johanna. Meaning: the Lord is gracious. Roots: Bible, saints and Latin. Found in: Suffolk poll tax, 1381 (156).
The feminine of John, the Lord is gracious, written Johanna in the lists: 156 of them. Joan has fallen hardest of the big medieval names, with only 14 babies in England and Wales in 2025.
Margery
Written as: Margeria, Marjerie. Meaning: a form of Margaret, pearl. Roots: Bible, saints and Latin. Found in: Ragman Rolls, 1296 (5); Suffolk poll tax, 1381 (151).
A form of Margaret, pearl, and fourth among Suffolk women with 151, well ahead of Margaret itself (94). In the Ragman Rolls index it is spelled Marjerie, which is how the name sounded. Nobody chose Margery in the 2025 lists we checked.
Medieval girl names
Women are thin on the ground in Domesday and the Ragman Rolls, because land and homage were mostly men’s business. The poll tax is where they appear in numbers. Put the records together and you get three layers:
- English names of 1066: Ælfgifu, Eadgifu, Eadgyth, Leofgifu, Godgifu, Wulfrun. Gift (-gifu) is everywhere.
- Norman arrivals of 1086: Adelaide, Adeline, Alice, Ida, Judith, Christina. Only a handful, but they are the future.
- Suffolk in 1381: Alice, Agnes, Joan, Margery, Margaret, Katherine, Isabel, Matilda, Christian, Beatrice, Emma and Cecily.
- Wales in 1352: Efa, Nest and Gwladus, usually seen through a son’s name, as in ap Nest.
Which medieval names are still used today?
Plenty, and a few are doing better now than they have for centuries. These are the bairns (children) born in 2025, counted by the ONS (girls and boys) and National Records of Scotland.
| Name | Medieval record | England and Wales 2025 | Scotland 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry | Ragman Rolls, Suffolk | 2,295 | 60 |
| Mabel | Suffolk (Mabilia) | 1,527 | 70 |
| William | Domesday 1086 onwards | 1,456 | 80 |
| Matilda | Suffolk (Matildis) | 1,449 | 47 |
| Adam | Ragman Rolls, Suffolk | 1,431 | 114 |
| Thomas | Ragman Rolls, Suffolk | 1,344 | 155 |
| Alice | Suffolk (Alicia) | 825 | 75 |
| Rose | Suffolk (Rosa) | 666 | 58 |
| Ralph | Domesday 1086 | 541 | 13 |
| Emma | Suffolk | 536 | 46 |
| Beatrice | Suffolk (Beatrix) | 401 | 10 |
| Patrick | Ragman Rolls | 375 | 44 |
| John | Ragman Rolls, Suffolk | 296 | 50 |
| Rhys | Caernarvon (Res) | 106 | 13 |
| Fergus | Ragman Rolls | 103 | 59 |
| Agnes | Suffolk (Agneta) | 79 | 5 |
| Owain | Caernarvon (Owein) | 18 | none recorded |
| Joan | Suffolk (Johanna) | 14 | none recorded |
The 1381 list of women reads like a 2025 nursery register in places: Alice, Matilda, Emma, Beatrice and Rose have all made comebacks. The men’s names that won in the 1300s mostly never left. And the big losers are the ones that were biggest of all: Joan, Margery and Ælfric.
How to choose a medieval name
- Match the name to the date. A character in 1050 is an Ælfric or a Godgifu; in 1150, a William or a Matilda; in 1380, a John or an Alice. The finder’s document filter does this for you.
- Match it to the place. Patrick, Duncan and Fergus for Scotland; Madog, Dafydd and Ieuan for Wales; Thorkil and Ketil for the old Danelaw.
- Use the clerk’s spelling for colour. Willelmus, Johanna, Alicia and Matildis are how the names looked on the page, which is braw (great) for a letter or a charter in a story.
- For a baby, pick the comeback names. Henry, Matilda, Mabel, Alice and Rose have a medieval record and sound current.
Watch out for: spellings that look like a different name. Johanna is Joan, not a modern Johanna; Mariota is Marion; Elena is Ellen. And dinnae read too much into small numbers in the Ragman Rolls, where one man can be indexed twice. For how first names turned into family names, see our English surnames guide.
Quick list: all 208 medieval names
| Name | Meaning | For | Roots | Found in (count) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam | earth, soil | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1); 1296 (103); 1381 (42) |
| Adelaide | noble + kind | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1) |
| Adeline | noble | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1) |
| Agnes | pure, holy | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1296 (3); 1381 (166) |
| Alexander | defender of men | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (19); 1381 (7) |
| Alflæd | noble or elf + beauty | Woman | Old English | 1066 (13) |
| Alfred | elf + counsel | Man | Old English | 1066 (30); 1086 (7) |
| Alice | noble (a short form of Adelaide) | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1); 1296 (5); 1381 (257) |
| Almær | noble or elf + famous | Man | Old English | 1066 (152); 1086 (7) |
| Alnoth | noble or elf + daring | Man | Old English | 1066 (69) |
| Alric | noble or elf + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (89); 1086 (9) |
| Alsige | noble or elf + victory | Man | Old English | 1066 (59); 1086 (7) |
| Alstan | noble or elf + stone | Man | Old English | 1066 (31) |
| Alweald | noble or elf + power | Man | Old English | 1066 (42); 1086 (3) |
| Alweard | noble or elf + guard | Man | Old English | 1066 (118); 1086 (9) |
| Alwig | noble or elf + war | Man | Old English | 1066 (61); 1086 (7) |
| Alwine | noble or elf + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (227); 1086 (10) |
| Amice | uncertain | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (10) |
| Andrew | manly | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (63) |
| Ansger | god + spear | Man | Norman | 1086 (5) |
| Arnkil | uncertain + helmet, cauldron | Man | Norse | 1066 (41); 1086 (2) |
| Aubrey | elf + ruler | Man | Norman | 1086 (4) |
| Baldwin | bold + friend | Man | Norman | 1086 (5) |
| Beatrice | blessed | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (25) |
| Benedict | blessed | Man | Bible or Latin | 1381 (6) |
| Beorhtgifu | bright + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (7) |
| Beorhtmær | bright + famous | Man | Old English | 1066 (53) |
| Beorhtnoth | bright + courage, daring | Man | Old English | 1066 (9) |
| Beorhtric | bright + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (55); 1086 (5) |
| Beorhtweald | bright + power | Man | Old English | 1066 (13) |
| Beorhtwine | bright + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (12) |
| Berenger | bear + spear | Man | Norman | 1086 (3) |
| Bernard | bear + brave | Man | Norman | 1086 (3); 1296 (7) |
| Bleddyn | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Brice | possibly speckled | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (4) |
| Cecily | from the Roman Caecilii family | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (19) |
| Christian | follower of Christ | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1); 1381 (43) |
| Cynddelw | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Dafydd | Welsh form of David, beloved | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| David | beloved | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (3); 1296 (28) |
| Donald | world ruler | Man | Gaelic | 1296 (5) |
| Dougal | black stranger | Man | Gaelic | 1296 (4) |
| Duncan | dark or chief + uncertain | Man | Gaelic | 1296 (25) |
| Durand | uncertain | Man | Norman | 1086 (5) |
| Eadgifu | wealth + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (22); 1086 (3) |
| Eadgyth | wealth + battle | Woman | Old English | 1066 (18); 1086 (4) |
| Eadmær | wealth, prosperity + famous | Man | Old English | 1066 (23) |
| Eadnoth | wealth, prosperity + courage, daring | Man | Old English | 1066 (15) |
| Eadric | wealth + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (135); 1086 (8) |
| Eadsige | wealth, prosperity + victory | Man | Old English | 1066 (10) |
| Eadwig | wealth + war | Man | Old English | 1066 (26) |
| Ealdgifu | old + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (3) |
| Ealdgyth | old + battle | Woman | Old English | 1066 (6) |
| Ealdred | old + counsel | Man | Old English | 1066 (22); 1086 (5) |
| Edmund | wealth + protection | Man | Old English | 1066 (14); 1086 (4); 1296 (4); 1381 (29) |
| Edward | wealth + guardian | Man | Old English | 1066 (37); 1086 (10); 1381 (3) |
| Edwin | wealth + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (75); 1086 (6) |
| Efa | Welsh form of Eve, life | Woman | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Einion | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Elidir | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Ellen | a form of Helen | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (12) |
| Ellis | from Elias, Elijah | Man | Bible or Latin | 1381 (4) |
| Emma | whole, universal | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1); 1381 (22) |
| Eskil | god + helmet, cauldron | Man | Norse | 1066 (25); 1086 (3) |
| Eulalia | uncertain | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1) |
| Eustace | fruitful | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (2) |
| Fergus | man + strength | Man | Gaelic | 1296 (9) |
| Geoffrey | god + peace | Man | Norman | 1086 (12); 1296 (9); 1381 (37) |
| Gerald | spear + rule | Man | Norman | 1086 (4) |
| Gerard | spear + strong | Man | Norman | 1086 (2) |
| Gilbert | pledge + bright | Man | Norman | 1086 (14); 1296 (52); 1381 (4) |
| Godfrey | god or good + peace | Man | Norman | 1086 (1); 1296 (5) |
| Godgifu | god + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (17) |
| Godgyth | god or good + battle | Woman | Old English | 1066 (3) |
| Godric | god or good + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (223); 1086 (13) |
| Godwine | god or good + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (209); 1086 (19) |
| Goronwy | from the legendary Gronw Pebr | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Gregory | watchful | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (5) |
| Grim | mask, helmet | Man | Norse | 1066 (27); 1086 (1) |
| Gruffudd | uncertain + lord, prince | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Guy | wood or wide | Man | Norman | 1086 (3) |
| Gwilym | Welsh form of William | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Gwion | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Gwladus | uncertain | Woman | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Gwyn | white, blessed | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Gytha | god + beautiful | Woman | Norse | 1066 (6) |
| Harold | army + power | Man | Old English | 1066 (10) |
| Healfdene | half Danish | Man | Norse | 1066 (21); 1086 (1) |
| Heilyn | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Henry | home + ruler | Man | Norman | 1086 (3); 1296 (75); 1381 (45) |
| Herbert | army + bright | Man | Norman | 1086 (4) |
| Hervey | from French Hervé | Man | Norman | 1086 (4) |
| Hugh | mind, spirit | Man | Norman | 1086 (23); 1296 (55); 1381 (4) |
| Humphrey | to grant + peace | Man | Norman | 1086 (11) |
| Hywel | eminent | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Iago | Welsh form of James | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Ida | work, labour | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1) |
| Ieuan | Welsh form of John | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Ingram | from Frankish Angilram | Man | Norman | 1296 (3) |
| Iorwerth | lord + fair, handsome | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Isabel | a form of Elisabeth | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (77) |
| Isolde | ice + battle | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1) |
| Ithel | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Ivo | yew, bow | Man | Norman | 1086 (1) |
| James | supplanter | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (22); 1381 (5) |
| Joan | the Lord is gracious | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (156) |
| Jocelin | from Germanic Gauzlin; meaning uncertain | Man | Norman | 1086 (7) |
| John | God has been gracious | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (3); 1296 (410); 1381 (603) |
| Judith | praised | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1) |
| Juliana | youthful | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (10) |
| Katherine | linked to Greek pure | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (82) |
| Ketil | helmet, sacrificial cauldron | Man | Norse | 1066 (35); 1086 (7) |
| Laurence | man from Laurentum | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (9) |
| Leofflæd | dear + beauty | Woman | Old English | 1066 (5) |
| Leofgar | dear, beloved + spear | Man | Old English | 1066 (11) |
| Leofgifu | dear + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (18); 1086 (3) |
| Leofnoth | dear, beloved + courage, daring | Man | Old English | 1066 (14) |
| Leofric | dear + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (114); 1086 (4) |
| Leofrun | dear, beloved + secret, rune | Woman | Old English | 1066 (3) |
| Leofsige | dear, beloved + victory | Man | Old English | 1066 (21) |
| Leofstan | dear + stone | Man | Old English | 1066 (16) |
| Leofwig | dear, beloved + battle | Man | Old English | 1066 (9) |
| Leofwine | dear + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (112); 1086 (9) |
| Lettice | joy, gladness | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (3) |
| Llywelyn | debated: old gods, or llyw, leader | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Mabel | lovable | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (3) |
| Madog | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Malcolm | devotee of St Columba | Man | Gaelic | 1296 (7) |
| Maredudd | uncertain; gave English Meredith | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Margaret | pearl | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1296 (7); 1381 (94) |
| Margery | a form of Margaret, pearl | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1296 (5); 1381 (151) |
| Marion | little Mary | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (17) |
| Martin | of Mars | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (2); 1296 (3); 1381 (3) |
| Matilda | might + battle | Woman | Norman | 1086 (1); 1381 (63) |
| Matthew | gift of God | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1) |
| Maurice | from Mauretania | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1); 1296 (9) |
| Meilyr | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Meurig | from Latin Mauricius | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Michael | who is like God? | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (26) |
| Mærwynn | famous + joy | Woman | Old English | 1066 (4) |
| Nest | uncertain | Woman | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Nicholas | victory of the people | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (2); 1296 (48); 1381 (35) |
| Nigel | from Gaelic Niall | Man | Norman | 1086 (4) |
| Odo | wealth | Man | Norman | 1086 (6) |
| Osbern | god + bear | Man | Norse | 1086 (11) |
| Osgot | from Old Danish Asgot; meaning uncertain | Man | Norse | 1066 (23); 1086 (3) |
| Osmund | god + protection | Man | Old English | 1066 (20); 1086 (6) |
| Osweard | a god + guardian | Man | Old English | 1066 (12) |
| Oswulf | a god + wolf | Man | Old English | 1066 (14) |
| Owain | well born | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Patrick | nobleman, patrician | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (46) |
| Peter | stone, rock | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (3); 1296 (31); 1381 (27) |
| Petronilla | a Late Latin name | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (3) |
| Philip | fond of horses | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (16) |
| Ralph | counsel + wolf | Man | Norman | 1086 (23); 1296 (37); 1381 (6) |
| Ranald | a Gaelic form of Ronald | Man | Gaelic | 1296 (3) |
| Ranulf | counsel or house + wolf | Man | Norman | 1086 (5); 1296 (9) |
| Reginald | counsel + ruler | Man | Norman | 1086 (8); 1296 (8) |
| Rhys | ardour, enthusiasm | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Richard | ruler + strong, brave | Man | Norman | 1086 (11); 1296 (69); 1381 (38) |
| Robert | fame + bright | Man | Norman | 1086 (34); 1296 (138); 1381 (124) |
| Roger | fame + spear | Man | Norman | 1086 (22); 1296 (13); 1381 (26) |
| Rose | fame + kind, later linked to the rose | Woman | Norman | 1381 (5) |
| Sarah | princess | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (11) |
| Seisyll | uncertain; gave English Cecil | Man | Welsh | 1352 (occasional) |
| Sibyl | a sibyl, an oracle | Woman | Bible or Latin | 1381 (3) |
| Sigeric | victory + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (17) |
| Simon | listen | Man | Bible or Latin | 1296 (14); 1381 (37) |
| Siward | victory + guard | Man | Old English | 1066 (75); 1086 (5) |
| Stephen | wreath, crown | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (4); 1381 (11) |
| Swein | young man | Man | Norse | 1066 (41); 1086 (5) |
| Sæmær | sea + famous | Man | Old English | 1066 (9) |
| Sæweard | sea + guardian | Man | Old English | 1066 (10) |
| Sæwine | sea + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (12); 1086 (3) |
| Sæwulf | sea + wolf | Man | Old English | 1066 (22) |
| Tegwared | uncertain | Man | Welsh | 1352 (common) |
| Thomas | twin | Man | Bible or Latin | 1086 (1); 1296 (120); 1381 (182) |
| Thor | the thunder god | Man | Norse | 1066 (10); 1086 (1) |
| Thorkil | Thor + helmet, cauldron | Man | Norse | 1066 (65); 1086 (10) |
| Thurstan | Thor + stone | Man | Norse | 1086 (6) |
| Toki | uncertain | Man | Norse | 1066 (21) |
| Tudur | from Brythonic Toutorix | Man | Welsh | 1352 (very common) |
| Ulf | wolf | Man | Norse | 1066 (38); 1086 (2) |
| Ulfkil | wolf + helmet, cauldron | Man | Norse | 1066 (63); 1086 (8) |
| Walter | power, rule + army | Man | Norman | 1086 (15); 1296 (87); 1381 (40) |
| William | will, desire + helmet | Man | Norman | 1086 (63); 1296 (260); 1381 (218) |
| Wulfflæd | wolf + purity, glory, beauty | Woman | Old English | 1066 (4) |
| Wulfgar | wolf + spear | Man | Old English | 1066 (14) |
| Wulfgifu | wolf + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (11) |
| Wulfmær | wolf + famous | Man | Old English | 1066 (59); 1086 (4) |
| Wulfnoth | wolf + daring | Man | Old English | 1066 (36) |
| Wulfric | wolf + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (138); 1086 (10) |
| Wulfrun | wolf + secret, rune | Woman | Old English | 1066 (5) |
| Wulfsige | wolf + victory | Man | Old English | 1066 (24); 1086 (3) |
| Wulfstan | wolf + stone | Man | Old English | 1066 (25) |
| Wulfweard | wolf + guard | Man | Old English | 1066 (40); 1086 (4) |
| Wulfwig | wolf + battle | Man | Old English | 1066 (18) |
| Wulfwine | wolf + friend | Man | Old English | 1066 (53); 1086 (3) |
| Ælfgar | elf + spear | Man | Old English | 1066 (71); 1086 (4) |
| Ælfgifu | elf + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (38); 1086 (4) |
| Ælfgyth | elf + battle | Woman | Old English | 1066 (4) |
| Ælfheah | elf + high | Man | Old English | 1066 (12) |
| Ælfhild | elf + battle | Woman | Old English | 1066 (4) |
| Ælfric | elf + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (238); 1086 (16) |
| Æthelgifu | noble + gift | Woman | Old English | 1066 (7) |
| Æthelmær | noble + famous | Man | Old English | 1066 (36) |
| Æthelric | noble + ruler | Man | Old English | 1066 (34) |
| Æthelweard | noble + guardian | Man | Old English | 1066 (10) |
FAQ about medieval names
What were common medieval names?
After about 1200 the commonest men’s names in Britain were John, William, Thomas, Robert, Richard, Henry and Walter. For women, Alice, Agnes, Joan, Margery, Margaret, Katherine and Isabel led. In the Suffolk poll tax of 1381, our count found 603 Johns and 257 Alices, the top names for each.
What were medieval girl names?
Popular medieval girl names include Alice, Agnes, Joan, Margery, Margaret, Katherine, Isabel, Matilda, Emma, Beatrice, Cecily and Juliana, all found in the 1381 Suffolk poll tax lists. Earlier, before 1066, English women were called Ælfgifu, Eadgifu, Eadgyth and Godgifu.
What were Norman names?
The Normans brought names such as William, Robert, Hugh, Ralph, Roger, Walter, Gilbert, Geoffrey and Richard. Among the lords and subtenants in Domesday in 1086, our count of PASE found 63 Williams and 34 Roberts. Many are Germanic names that came into England through French.
What were medieval Welsh names?
In the Record of Caernarvon, with its surveys of 1352, the commonest Welsh first names include Madog, Dafydd, Ieuan, Hywel, Goronwy, Ithel, Tudur, Gruffudd and Einion. Most people were identified by patronymics such as Madog ap Iorwerth, meaning Madog son of Iorwerth.
Were medieval Scottish names different from English ones?
Less than you might think. In the Ragman Rolls of 1296, the top Scottish names were John, William, Robert, Thomas and Adam, much like England. Gaelic names such as Duncan, Patrick, Fergus, Malcolm and Donald appear too, but further down the list.
Final thoughts on medieval names
If you want one name to stand for the whole period, it is John: three Johns among the Domesday lords of 1086, then top of the list in Scotland in 1296 and in Suffolk in 1381, with a Welsh twin, Ieuan, near the top in Caernarvon. For a woman, Alice does the same job, and unlike Joan she never went away.
Next stop for the curious: the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, which run from 1326, are the obvious place to follow Scottish names further, though we did not count them here. And if the Old English names of 1066 are your period, the Old English surnames guide shows which of them still survive in phone books today.
Sources
- PASE Domesday, Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (University of Oxford, King’s College London, University of Cambridge): export counted October 2026
- Wikipedia, Domesday Book
- Wikipedia, Ragman Rolls
- Instrumenta Publica sive Processus super Fidelitatibus et Homagiis Scotorum (the Ragman Rolls), Bannatyne Club, 1834, Internet Archive scan
- Registrum vulgariter nuncupatum The Record of Caernarvon, Record Commission, 1838, Internet Archive scan
- Wikipedia, Welsh surnames
- Edgar Powell, The Rising in East Anglia in 1381, with the Suffolk poll tax lists (Cambridge, 1896), Internet Archive scan
- Wikipedia, Peasants’ Revolt
- Wikipedia, Exchequer Rolls of Scotland
- Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, boys, 2025
- Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, girls, 2025
- National Records of Scotland, Babies’ first names 2025
- Store norske leksikon, Torkjell (and entries for Svein, Ketil, Grim, Ulf, Eskil and Gyda)
- Wikipedia given-name articles: John, William, Alice, Ieuan, Duncan, Malcolm and others
- Wiktionary, Nest (and entries for Madog, Meurig, Iago, Caradog, Brice, Ivo and Humphrey)
