LocationĪ John who lived near the woods would often call himself “John of the Woods,” or simply John Wood. There are generally four ways people with the same name differentiated themselves during medieval times. Identifying people using some kind of additional non-hereditary informal name or byname became necessary. William became enormously popular when William the Conqueror ascended to the English throne.Īs the population grew, distinguishing people with the same names became an increasing concern. People would often name their children after famous people at the time, mainly from kings, artists, warriors, and such.
Naming your child after a saint was seen as a protective measure, with parents believing these saints would watch over their children.Īs society continued to develop, less religious emphasis was placed on names. Names were often inspired by saints, who were the “celebrities” at the time. Religion had the strongest influence on naming conventions, with Christianity having the biggest impact on the development of personal names in the western world. Bridget could easily be “Byrgytte” and “Brigyt.” As spelling was not that important then, different versions of the same name were frequently used. A person could simply be called John or Cateline. Mononymsīack in medieval times, people only needed one name.
Even today, names that originated from earlier times are still frequently used. This resulted in the creation of unique naming conventions that were either based on religion, language, or culture. The Middle Ages were times of frequent change and mixing of cultures mostly brought about by the fall of the Western Roman Empire and considered to have lasted from the 5th to the late 15th century. This is especially true during the medieval ages, where names could literally describe a person. With a name, society marks a person as someone worthy of notice, separating their achievements and activities from other people.
Your name is the greatest marker of your individuality.
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