Viking Names
Audhild
The Old Norse female personal name Auðhildr is a compound formed of the first element Auð-, which is obscure in origin but perhaps auðr ‘wealth’ or from the stem in auðinn ‘that befalls one’ and jóð ‘new-born baby’, combined with the second element -hildr ‘battle’. A woman by the name of Auðhildr was recorded recorded as having lived in the Orkneys in the early twelfth century. Auðhildr is believed to be the first element in the medieval field name of Odelgateland in Stainburn, West Yorkshire. It also appears in medieval Lincolnshire and Yorkshire documents. However, some forms of the name may represent the Continental Germanic female name Odil.
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Viking Names
Ingus
Ingus is possibly an Anglo-Scandinavian formation because it is not attested in Scandinavia and perhaps only survives in the place-name Ings Beck, North Yorkshire. In the twelfth century the place-name was recorded as Ingusbec. The name is possibly a short form of the Old Norse female name Ingiríðr.
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Viking Names
Stein
Originally a byname, Steinn ‘stone’ is a very common personal name across Scandinavia. It appears early and remains fairly common as a personal name in both Norway and Iceland. As a personal name, the later form Sten is fairly common in Sweden and Denmark. Several instances are recorded as a byname in Denmark, possibly as a loan from Sweden. The name may also be found in a place-name in Normandy. It is also the first element in Stenson, Derbyshire.
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Viking Names
Klakk
Klakkr, an original byname from Old Norse klakkr, probably a ‘peg on saddle on which baggage is hung’, appears in a few recordings in West Scandinavia. The name is related to the byname Klakka, which appears early and often in West Scandinavia. Klak is also recorded in Sweden and found in some Danish place-names. Klakkr is the first element of Claxby, Lincolnshire.
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Viking Names
Ulf
Úlfr is a very common name throughout Scandinavia, meaning ‘wolf’. It is also frequent in England, occurring both independently and in place-names like Ulceby Lincolnshire and Ullesthorpe, Leicestershire. While Old English has a personal name element Wulf, common in compound names such as Wulfstan, it is very rarely used on its own as a monothematic name, unlike the Old Norse cognate. The Old Norse name can also be found as both the first and second element in compound names, such as Úlfgeirr or Þórulfr. The name is also found in a sundial inscription from Aldbrough, East Yorkshire, along with the female name Gunnvor.
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Viking Names
Vigmund
Vígmundr is an Old Norse compound name containing the elements Víg- ‘battle, strife’ and -mundr ‘protector’ or alternatively ‘gift’. It seems to be found in a place-name in Norway and a few instances are recorded in Swedish runic inscriptions. A name Wimund(us) occurs fairly frequently in Normandy and men of this name are recorded in Domesday Book as present in Lincolnshire. Vígmundr or its Old English equivalent, Wigmund, is the first element of the place-name Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Names
Bjornulf
Bjǫrnúlfr is an Old Norse compound name from Bjǫrn- ‘bear’ and -úlfr ‘wolf’. The name appears early in Iceland, but aside from place-names not until late in Norway. Possibly found in a place-name in Normandy. The name is well attested in personal names and place-names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire evidenced by Barnoldby le Beck, Lincolnshire. However, many of the forms in these counties may also represent the Old English male personal name Beornwulf.