An appropriate and authentic name
can add flair to any character’s persona.
This article offers a way for players and
referees to enrich a fantasy campaign by
giving characters names with Old Eng-
lish (Anglo-Saxon) origins.

Old English is a good source of names
for three reasons. First, the “common
tongue” bears an uncanny resemblance
to English. Names expressed in Old Eng-
lish are easily perceived by our English
minds and easily pronounced by our
English tongues.

Second, Old English names have an
air of the exotic and archaic about them.
Perhaps no one would wish to limit
names in a fantasy campaign to Old Eng-
lish forms; even historical Angles and
Saxons often had names of Celtic, Latin,
Pictish, or other more obscure origins.
But fantasy fans will find a wealth of
heroic names in the Anglo-Saxon treas-
ury by itself, without necessarily consid-
ering all the possible offshoots.

Third, using Old English makes it easy
to construct names that have real mean-
ings, without having to make up a new
language. Players and referees will enjoy
making up names that reveal — and at
the same time perhaps conceal — the
natures of their characters. Bahamut has
appeared incognito to players in my
campaign at various times under names
such as “Windbearn.” He can truthfully
tell them he is “a child of the wind” with-
out giving away his actual name.

Old English names were typically
composed of two elements. The tables
accompanying this article list actual Old
English name elements. To create a
name from the tables, simply put a first
element together with a second element.
Parentheses and slashes show optional
variations. Make any desirable euphonic
changes (changes that make the word
sound better): “aelf-flaed” to Aelflaed,
“leof-mund” to Leomund, “cene-weard”
to Kenward. Also, names may be short-
ened: Raedwulf to Radult, or Ralf.

Since there were no family names in
medieval times, family members would
often use alliterative (each beginning
with the same letter) names, or names in
which one element was constant (such
as Eadweard, Sigweard, or Coenweard).

The Old English ae is pronounced like
the short a in “at” and is often written as a
ligature (with the a and e joined). In the
combinations ea and eo, pronounce both
letters with stress on the first.

The tables are set up so that players
can dice for “random names” if so de-
sired. If this method is used, you may
wish to include an equal chance of hav-
ing an asterisked name-element as a first
element in the name. Follow this proce-
dure to do so. Roll on the “second ele-
ment” table first. If you end up with an
asterisked second element, assign a 2/3
(or 66%) chance that it is actually the first
element in the name. If it is, then roll on
the “second element” table again, ignor-
ing the same element if it recurs.

For example, let’s create an Old Eng-
lish name by rolling dice. A roll of 02 on
percentile dice, using the “second ele-
ment” table, yields “b(e)ald/balt/balth*.”
Noting that this element has an asterisk
behind it, we roll the percentile dice
again. If we roll 66 or below, we make
“bald” the first element of the name
instead of the second element. Now we
roll again to get the actual second ele-
ment; a result of 99 yields “wyn/wynn*.”
So, the resulting name is “Baldwyn.”

If the second roll in the example had
been 67 or above, we would then retain
“b(e)ald/balt/balth” as the second ele-
ment and proceed as usual to roll a first
element. Let’s say the next roll is 47,
yielding a result of “grim.” In this case
the name would be “Grimbeald” or
“Grimbald” or “Grimbalt” or “Grimbalth,”
depending on individual preference.

The tables and “element-order” rules
given are historically correct. Since we
are using the name elements for fantasy,
however, we can break the rules of
Anglo-Saxon name formation and get
away with it. For example, “Wilmanric” is
a name composed of three elements.
Probably no Anglo-Saxon would have
gone by it, but it makes a rather hand-
some name anyway, particularly for a
chaotic character.

Table of First Elements

Dice roll	First Element	Meaning
01-02	aelf/aelb	elf
03-04	aethel/aedil	noble
05-06	badu/beado/beo	fight, battle
07-08	blith	cheerful
09-10	bregu	prince
11-12	ceol	keel, ship
13-14	coen/coin/cene	bold, fierce
15-16	cuth/cud	known, famous
17-18	cwic(u)/quic	alive
19-20	dryct/dryht	band of retainers
21-22	ead/ed/aead	bliss, prosperity
23-24	eald/ald	old, eminent
25-26	ealh/alh	temple, refuge
27-28	earcon/ercon	genuine, excellent
29-30	earn	eagle
31-32	ecg/ec	edge, sword
33-34	eofor	boar
35-36	eorcon	genuine, simple
37-38	eomen/yrmen	universal, immense, whole
39-40	folc	folk, people, nation, tribe
41-42	ford	forth, forwards
43-44	fri	free
45-46	go/d	gold
47-48	grim	savage, fierce
49-50	haem	home
51-52	haeth	heath
53-54	heah	high, illustrious
55-56	healf	half
57-58	hreth	victory
59-60	hroth(i)	fame
61-62	huaet	sharp, bold
63-64	hyg/hugu	mind, heart, courage
65-66	iaru	ready, desirable
67-68	leof	desirable, friend, dear
69-70	maegen	strength, might, might, ability
71-72	oidil	native country, one's land
73-74	ongen	opposed to,  against, contrary to
75-76	os	god
77-78	rath	quick, clever
79-80	seax/sax/sex	knife, short sword
81-82	se/e	house
83-84	tat	tender, delicate
85-86	theod	folk, people
87-88	til	good, excellent
89-90	torct	illustrious, bright
91-92	trum	firm, strong
93-94	tun	enclosure
95-96	waeg	motion, wave, billow
97-98	wig	strife
99-00	wil	will, desire, pleasure

Table of Second Elements

Dice roll	Second element	Meaning
01-02	b(e)ald/balt/baith*	bold, brave
03-04	be(o)rht/berct/berict*	bright, noble
05-06	beorn/bern*	man, warrior (poetic)
07-08	brand	sword
09-10	brod/brord	point, lance
11-12	burg/burh	castle/town
13-14	cyni/cyn(n)(e)*	kin, family
15-16	degn	thane, servant, warrior
17-18	ferth	mind, soul, life, person
19-20	flaed/fled	cleanliness, beauty
21-22	for	journey
23-24	frith(u)/frit/frid	peacem, security
25-26	gar*	spear
27-28	geld	worship, sacrifice, payment
29-30	gifu/geofu	gift
31-32	gis(i)l	hostage
33-34	gund(i)/gunnr(r)/gyth/gyd*	war, combat
35-36	head/hathu*	battle
37-38	heard/hard*	hardy, firm, brave
39-40	here/heri*	army, host, folk
41-42	he/m	helmet, protection, protector
43-44	hild(e)*	war, combat
45-46	hun	young bear
47-48	lac	dance
49-50	laf	legacy, relic, survivor
51-52	lid	soft, gentle
53-54	lind/linda	serpent
55-56	maer(e)	famous
57-58	man/mon	man
59-60	mund	hand, protection
61-62	noth	boldness, booty
63-64	raed/red*	counsel, wisdom
65-66	refu	steward, high official
67-68	ric	powerful, ruler, kingdom
69-70	sig/sige*	victory
71-72	stan	stone
73-74	swith/swid	strong
75-76	theof	criminal, thief
77-78	theow	servant, slave, follower
79-80	thryth/thryd*	force, strength, majesty
81-82	w(e)alch/walh	foreigner, slave
83-84	weald/weal*	power, rule, possession
85-86	weard/ward	guardian, dwelling place
87-88	wic	dwelling, place, village
89-90	wict/wiht*	creature, person
91-92	wine/wini	friend, protector
93-94	wiw/wju	holy
95-96	wuda/widu/wudu	wood
97-98	wulf/wulf*	wolf
99-00	wyn/wynn*	joy, delight

— An asterisk marks sets of second
elements that can also be used as first
elements.