Viking Names
Bui
An original byname Búi, from búa ‘to dwell’, was found in Norway and Iceland as a personal name and byname, but is rare there. In the form Bōi, later Bo, it is very common in Denmark and Sweden, where it appears in several runic inscriptions as bui and is found in the Latin forms Boecius and Boetius. It is possibly found in three Normandy place-names and it is potentially the first element in Boothorpe, Leicestershire.
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Viking Names
Sunnifa
Sunnifa is a Scandinavianised form of Old English Sunngifu, which was the name of an Irish Christian queen who fled to Norway in the tenth century, according to her legend. She was later venerated as a saint and is the patron saint of Bergen and Western Norway. The name appears in Norway from the eleventh century onwards, but it is rare in Iceland and Denmark. Sunnifa is well-attested in medieval English documents notably in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, as well as some field-names in West Yorkshire.
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Viking Names
Hroald
Hróaldr was a common name throughout Viking Age Scandinavia, appearing in a few Swedish and Danish runic inscriptions. The name is used in modern Scandinavian today as Roald which was given the famous British children’s author Roald Dahl by his parents who were Norwegian immigrants to Wales. The personal name also appears as the first element in the place-name Rolleston, Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Names
Gunni
Gunni is a short form of Old Norse personal names in Gunn– from Old Norse gunnr, guðr ‘battle’. The personal name is very common throughout areas of the Viking diaspora and occurs in several place-names including three in Normandy. Gunni is also found in Danish and Swedish runic inscriptions. Gunni is the first element in three Lincolnshire place-names: Gunness, Gunby, and Gunthorpe.
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Viking Names
Tofi
The name Tófi is very common in the Viking Age, though mostly in Sweden and Denmark. It forms the first element of the hybrid place-name Toton, Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Names
Thorgeir
The male name Þorgeirr is extremely common in the Viking world (including Ireland and Normandy) and an anglicised version appears as the first element of the village- and wapentake-name Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Names
Sigulf
Sigulfr is a Scandinavian male personal name from Old Norse Sig- ‘victory’ and Old Norse -ulfr ‘wolf’. The name is possibly found in a Norwegian place-name and appears once in Jämtland (modern day Sweden) in 1347. The name is recorded in Sweden as runic sikulf and in the forms Sighulf, Sigell and possibly in the much contracted form Siel in Denmark. Sigulfr is also the first element in the place-name Sileby, Leicestershire.
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Viking Names
Broklaus
The postulated Old Norse male personal name Bróklauss is likely an Anglo-Scandinavian formation. It is originally a byname from the Old Norse elements Brók- ‘breeches’ and -lauss ‘less’. It is the first element in the place-name Brocklesby, Yarborough Wapentake, Lincolnshire, and in a field-name in Broughton, in Manley Wapentake, also in Lincolnshire.
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Viking Names
Grim
The Old Norse male name Grímr is common across the Scandinavian world, including the Viking diaspora. It is very common in English place-names, though some of these might rather represent an Old English mythological name associated with Woden, and there are other possibilities. For this reason, not all the hybrid names traditionally referred to as ‘Grimston hybrids’ necessarily have an Old Norse element and it is better to refer to them as Toton-hybrids. However, where the name is compounded with an Old Norse element such as -by (as in Grimsby), it is likely that it represents the Old Norse personal name. In Old Norse, Grímr is related to the word gríma ‘mask’ and mythological texts relate that is one of the god Óðinn’s by-names, deriving from his penchant for travelling about in disguise. It is also a common element in compound personal names, such as Þorgrímr. The father of the eponymous hero of Egils saga was called Skalla-Grímr ‘Bald-Grim’.
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Viking Names
Hunhild
Húnhildr is a postulated Old Norse female name of possible Anglo-Scandinavian origin. The first element of the name is Hún- of doubtful origin either from Old Norse húnn ‘bear-cub’ or perhaps Primitive Scandinavian hūn ‘high’. The second element of the name is –hildr ‘battle’. The name appears to be the first element in the field-name Hunildehus in Wildmore, Lincolnshire, which was recorded c. 1200.
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Viking Names
Thorwif
Þorwīf is a postulated Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid name formed from the Old Norse element Þor– from the god Þórr ‘Thor‘ combined with the Old English element wīf ‘woman, wife’. Forms of Þorwīf are attested in medieval Yorkshire charters.