This page is a directory of educational material regarding names, naming practices and related subjects. The articles here should be of interest to submitters as well as heralds of all levels in the SCA.

These articles commonly make use of a special notation to represent characters outside the typical English alphabet and US-ASCII encoding. This notation is called Da'ud Notation [PDF], after its developer, Da'ud ibn Auda.

DISCLAIMER: Use of these articles does not guarantee registration. A submission using only period elements documented from these articles might be returned for any of the following reasons:

• It conflicts with a protected name.
• Its individual elements are period, but the construction of the name is not. For instance, a combination of Arabic and Irish name elements would not be registered.
• We discover an error in the article(s) on which it is based. The authors of these articles are careful and knowledgeable, but we cannot completely rule out the possibility of typos or other errors. See Standard Source Errata for known issues with some of these sources.

General Advice

• What is an SCA Name?
• A Brief Introduction to the History of Names
• Name Sources for which Laurel Does Not Require Photocopies
• Name Sources to Avoid
• Name Research Without Books
• Naming Construction and Patterns
• Using FamilySearch Historical Records
• Mining FamilySearch Historical Records for Name Articles
  by Jeanne Marie Lacroix
• Standard Source "Errata"
  by Jeanne Marie Lacroix

Name Article Archives

• Some Name Resources
  Collected resources from Pelican Sovereign of Arms
• Medieval Names Archive
  The Academy of Saint Gabriel collection of articles on medieval and renaissance names
• Academy of Saint Gabriel
  a private heraldic consultation service, assisting members of the SCA in finding historically authentic medieval names and coats of arms for use in SCA activities
• Name Resources: Criteria
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Documentation
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Header Forms in Documentation
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Familysearch (IGI)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: SENA Appendixes
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Household Names
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Household Designators
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Order Names and Heraldic Titles
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Articles by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada
• Articles by Juliana de Luna
• Articles by Effric Neyn Ken3ocht Mcherrald (Sharon Krossa)
• Articles by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn (Heather Rose Jones)
• Articles by Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara Uckelman)

• Women's Names from (Mostly) 16th Century Inscriptions at Tirupati (India)
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Some Sources for pre-1600 Indian Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Mongolian Naming Practices
  by Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy
• Introduction to Pre-16th Century Chinese Onomastics [PDF]
  by Ii Katsumori
• Name Resources: Asian
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Middle Mongol Grammar for SCA Names
  by Ursula Georges
• Korean names from the 13th and 14th century (Goryeo) [PDF]
  by Herveus d'Ormonde

Byzantium

• Common Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the 6th and 7th Centuries
  by Bardas Xiphias
• Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era
  by Bardas Xiphias
• Name Resources: Roman
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Latin
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

Eastern Europe

• Early Croatian Given Names
  by Walraven van Nijmegen
• Common Czech Names of the 15th &16th Centuries
  by Walraven van Nijmege
• Hungarian Names 101
  by Walraven van Nijmege
• Hungarian Feminine Names
  by Walraven van Nijmege
• Hungarian Personal Names of the 16th Century
  by Walraven van Nijmege
• Name Resources: Eastern European
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Eastern European (Baltic)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Hungarian
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Polish
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

England

• The First Thousand Years of British Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Names of Women of the Brythonic North in the 5-7th Centuries
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Given Names from Early 13th Century England
  by Talan Gwynek
• An Index to the 1296 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Rutland, England
  by Karen Larsdatter
• Yorkshire Given Names from 1379
  by Talan Gwynek
• Names from 15th Century York
  by Karen Larsdatter
• An Index to the 1523 Subsidy Roll for York and Ainsty, England
  by Karen Larsdatter
• Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names
  by Talan Gwynek
• A Survey of the History of English Place-Names
  by Scolastica la souriete
• English Names found in Brass Enscriptions
  by Julian Goodwyn
• Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames
  by Talan Gwynek
• "Misplaced" Names found in A Dictionary of English Surnames
  by Jeanne Marie Lacroix
• 12th & 13th Century English Textile Surnames
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• 14th Century Worcestershire Names
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• 16th Century Gloucestershire Names
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• English Given Names from 16th and Early 17th C Marriage Records
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Feminine names from 14th C Exeter
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Feminine names from Devon, 1238
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Index of Names in the 1292 Subsidy Roll of London
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Cam, Glouchestershire, Marriage Registers 1569-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Charlton Kings, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1538-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Frocester, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1559-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Maisemore, Glouchestershire Registers 1538-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Minchinhampton, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1566-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Oldbury-on-Hill, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Quedgeley, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1559-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in Rangeworthy Bishops, Glouchestershire, Registers 1575-1600
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in the Berkeley Hundred Court Rolls
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names from 13th Century Northumberland
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Name Resources: Middle English (1066-1500)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Anglo-Saxon (Old English)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Late Period English
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: English Men's Names
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: English
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

France

• Early Medieval Breton Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris
  by Colm Dubh
• An Index to the Occupational By-Names in the 1292 Census of Paris
  by Colm Dubh
• Occitan Townspeople in the 14th Century
  by Juliana de Luna
• Given Names from Brittany, 1384-1600
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France
  by Talan Gwynek
• Feminine Names from Aosta, 1337 and 1351
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Feminine Names from Périgueux, 1339-1340
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• French Names from Chastenay, 1448-1457
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423, & 1438
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names found in a French Marriage Register, 1595
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names from 13th- and 14th-Century Latin Records from Gascony
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names from a 1587 Tax Roll from Provins
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names from Artois, 1601
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names from Choisy, France, 1475-1478
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Occitan names from Saint Flour, France, 1380-1385
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Names from Lallaing 1384 - 1600
  by Domhnall na Moicheirghe
• Documenting a French Name
  by Brunissende Dragonette
• Name Resources: National French Library
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: French Placenames
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: French
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: French Occitan/Provencal
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

Germany

• German Given Names 1200-1250
  by Talan Gwynek
• Some Early Middle High German Bynames
  by Talan Gwynek
• German Names from Kocise, 1307 - 1505
  by Guntram von Wolkenstein
• 15th-Century German Women's Names
  by Talan Gwynek
• Medieval German Given Names from Silesia
  by Talan Gwynek
• Late Period German Masculine Given Names
  by Talan Gwynek
• German Names from Nürnberg, 1497
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Name Resources: German
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

Islam/Middle East

• Arabic Naming Practices and Period Names List
  by Da'ud ibn Auda
• Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain
  by Juliana de Luna
• Moorish Place-names in Portugal
  by Pedro de Alcazar
• Jewish Names in the World of Medieval Islam
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Jewish Women's Names in an Arab Context: Names from the Geniza of Cairo
  by Juliana de Luna

Ireland

• Some Masculine Ogham Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century Irish Names and Naming Practices
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Manx Names in the Early 16th Century
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Names Found in Anglicized Irish Documents
  Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada
• Name Resources: Gaelic and Anglicized Irish
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Irish Gaelic
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

Italy

• Masculine Names from Thirteenth Century Pisa
  by Juliana de Luna
• 15th Century Italian Men's Names
  By Talan Gwynek
• A sample of Jewish names in Milan 1540-1570
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Jews in Rome during the 1550's
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Feminine Names from 15-Century Bologna (Italy)
  by Gianna Maddalena Alberti

Jewish

• Names of Rabbis in Pirkei Avot
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Jewish Naming Convention in Angevin England
  by Eleazar ha-Levi
• Jews in Catalonia: 1250 to 1400
  by Juliana de Luna
• A sample of Jewish names in Valencia 1293-1485
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• A sample of Jewish names in Milan 1540-1570
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Jews in Rome during the 1550's
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Jewish Names in the World of Medieval Islam
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Jewish Women's Names in an Arab Context: Names from the Geniza of Cairo
  by Juliana de Luna

Low Countries

• 10th Century Frisian Masculine Names
  by Talan Gwynek
• Dutch Womens' Names to 1100
  by Walraven van Nijmege
• Flemish Feminine Names 1259 - 1530
  by Guntram von Wolkenstein
• 15th Century Dutch Names
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• 15th Century Dutch Names
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Dutch Given Names from 1573
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Dutch Names 1358-1361
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Dutch Names 1393-96
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Name Resources: Alternative Titles in Dutch
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Gender Neutral Names from the Netherlands
  offsite blog by Lady Ava van Allecmere
• A Handful of Nuns in Flanders
  by Lady Ava van Allecmere
• Amsterdam Marriage Banns 1565
  by Lady Ava van Allecmere
• Female Poorters in Leiden, 1450-14589 [PDF]
  by Lady Ava van Allecmere

Multiple Cultures

• Name Resources: Marital Bynames
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Patronymic Bynames
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Matronymic Bynames (Northern)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Matronymic Bynames (Southern)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Double Given Names
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Culturally Mixed Names
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Languages
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Regional Naming Groups
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Alys's Simple Guide to Household Names
  by Alys Mackyntoich
• Gender-Neutral Resources
  by Clare Drake
• The Unisex Names Project
  compiled by Rúnfríðr Keiliselgr

Order Names

• Medieval Secular Order Names
  by Juliana de Luna
• Registering an Order Name in the SCA
  by Ursula Georges
• Alys's Simple Order Name Checklist
  by Alys Mackyntoich
• Alys's Simple Guide to Naming Awards and Orders
  (For People Who Are Not Book Heralds)
  by Alys Mackyntoich

Roman

• A Simple Guide to Imperial Roman Names
  by Ursula Georges
• Vindolanda Tablets Online (Names)
• Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania

Baltic/Slavic

• Russian Names Database
  by Paul Wickenden of Thanet
• Locative Bynames in Medieval Russia
  by Paul Wickenden of Thanet
• A guide to some Estonian naming patterns
  compiled by ffride wlffsdotter
• A (very brief) guide to some Livonian naming patterns
  compiled by ffw ffride wlffsdotter
• A guide to some Lithuanian naming patterns
  compiled by ffw ffride wlffsdotter
• A guide to some 15-16th century Latvian naming patterns
  compiled by ffw ffride wlffsdotter

Scandinavia

• A Very Brief History of the Scandinavian Languages
  by Talan Gwynek
• Using Scandinavian diplomatria for fun and profit [PDF]
  by Birgitta Lulli
• Finnish Names Article
  by Rouva Gertrud
  • Ancient Finnish Names Chart: [HTML] [PDF]
• Swedish Feminine Names from 1300
  by Lindorm Eriksson
• Name Resources: Old Norse
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Scandinavian
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Danish
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Iron Age Finnic Personal Names [PDF]
  by Birittha Wf

Scotland

• A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records
  by Talan Gwynek
• 12th Century Scottish Women's Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• A Simple Guide to Constructing 12th Century Scottish Gaelic Names
  by Effric neyn Kenyeoch vicralte
• Names from 13th Century Scottish Parliamentary Records
  by Alys Mackyntoich
• Name Resources: Scots and Gaelic
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Mac/Mc
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

Spain/Iberian Peninsula

• Romance Languages of the Mediæval Iberian Peninsula
  by Pedro de Alcazar
• Andalusian Names: Arabs in Spain
  by Juliana de Luna
• Catalan Names in Latin Contexts: the late 12th century
  by Juliana de Luna
• Jews in Catalonia: 1250 to 1400
  by Juliana de Luna
• A sample of Jewish names in Valencia 1293-1485
  by Yehoshua ben Haim haYerushalmi
• Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century
  by Juliana de Luna
• 16th-century Spanish Names
  by Elsbeth Anne Roth
• Early Portuguese Names
  by Juliana de Luna
• Moorish Place-names in Portugal
  by Pedro de Alcazar
• Portuguese Names 1350-1450
  by Juliana de Luna
• Portuguese Names from the 16th Century
  by Juliana de Luna
• Basque Feminine Names
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Name Resources: Spanish
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux
• Name Resources: Iberian (Spanish, Portugeuse, and Arabic)
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux

Wales

• Concerning the Name "Eilonwy"
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Cornish (and Other) Personal Names from the 10th Century Bodmin Manumissions
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• 10th Century Cornish Women's Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th-Century Welsh Names
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th-Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Women's Names in the First Half of 16th Century Wales
  by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
• Late Sixteenth Century Welsh Names
  by Talan Gwynek
• Some 16th & 17th C Welsh Masculine Names
  by Aryanhwy merch Catmael
• Name Resources: Welsh
  by Juliana de Luna and Lillia de Vaux