This collection of articles on medieval and Renaissance names is intended
to help historical re-creators to choose authentic names. These articles
were gathered from various places, and some of them appear
elsewhere. In all cases, the copyright on each
article belongs to its authors.
For frequent users, we offer a
compact index; but please read the following
introduction at least once.
What's New
Choosing a Medieval Name
Choosing a medieval name is easy: Open any book on any aspect of medieval
history, and there will be some names. Choose one. Don't duplicate the
entire name of some historical person; that's generally considered
inappropriate for our game. But you can pick a given name from one person
and a surname from another person, and you're all set. You will have a
documented medieval name that you can be proud to use.
To be honest, it isn't that easy. at least not if you truly want an
authentic name. Few history books reproduce names in the exact forms that
were recorded in period documents. Most of the names are modernized and
anglicized, both in spelling and form. Depending on just how authentic you
want your name to be, you may or may not decide to worry about these
details; this collection of articles assumes that you want your name to be
as authentic as possible.
Good and Bad Sources
It's also easy to get led astray by bad sources. There are a lot of books
and lists of names that are useless, misleading, or erroneous. We've put
together some
guidelines to help you identify good sources, with a list of some of
the books most commonly used in the Society, and a list of
websites not
to use for choosing a medieval name. The Laurel Sovereign of Arms has
similar lists of books that are
good
and
bad
sources; and the Laurel website has a
longer
list as well.
Many people in the Society have written articles to help you choose an
authentic name. Answers to some common general questions can be found
in the Academy of Saint Gabriel
Client's Guide.
Some names that many people think of as common to the Middle Ages or
Renaissance are either purely modern or otherwise problematic. For
example, some names which were used in one medieval culture are now
mistakenly believed to have been used in others. Other medieval names
are mispronounced, or thought to be feminine names when they were
only masculine. If there are common misconceptions about the pre-1600
use of a name, it may be a "Problem Name". Pointing out these
misconceptions is the purpose of the
Problem Names
Project of the Academy of S. Gabriel. It includes a couple
dozen articles on specific names that are commonly misused by
re-creationists.
You can help!
If you have an article that you
would like to contribute to this library, please check out our guidelines on making your
article as useful as possible.
Personal Names in Specific Cultures
Names of Things
(including places, ships, buildings, clans, military units, and orders
of chivalry)
Articles in
preparation, currently available only to members of the
Academy of S. Gabriel.
The Medieval Names Archive is published by
Ursula Georges. It was historically published by the Academy of Saint Gabriel.
Copyright on individual articles belongs to their authors.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/index.shtml