Viking Names
Bekki
The Old Norse postulated male name Bekki is possibly an Anglo-Scandinavian formation originally from Old Norse bekkr ‘brook’. However, it could also be related to Frisian Becke or Continental Germanic Becco. Another possible derivation is from Old English becca ‘mattock’. Bekki is believed to be the first element in the place-name Bigby, Lincolnshire.
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Viking Names
Gunnhild
Gunnhildr is a very common female name throughout the Viking world. In England, the name has a particularly wide geographical distribution that extends beyond the Danelaw and beyond the Viking Age. Its popularity was most likely influenced by its use in the Danish royal family in the eleventh century, when it was borne by an aunt, a daughter and a niece of King Cnut. The name is also the first element of the place-name Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Names
Svein
The Old Norse male name Sveinn was one of the commonest in Scandinavia, particularly in Denmark and Sweden, where it is recorded in many runic inscriptions. It occurs as the first element in the Lincolnshire place-name of Swinethorpe. Early forms of this name confirm that it is nothing to do with swine, but rather contains this name. The name continued in use in both Lincolnshire and Yorkshire well into the thirteenth century. It was famously the name of the father of King Knútr, later king of all England. Sveinn was known as ‘Forkbeard’ and died in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, in 1014 according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
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Viking Names
Ingifrid
Ingifríðr appears fairly frequently in Denmark and Sweden. The name is attested twice in England during the Middle Ages in the forms Ingefrit and Ingefrid in documents from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire respectively. It is an Old Norse compound name with its first element Ingi-, which is of doubtful origin but might relate to a Greek word meaning ‘lance’ or ‘staff’ combined with and the second element -fríðr, related to Gothic frījōn ‘to love’, with original meaning ‘loved’, later ‘fair’. In origin it is thus the same name as Ingiríðr.
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Viking Names
Asgerda
Ásgerða is a predominantly West Scandinavian (Norway and Iceland) name and is a weak form of the more common Ásgerðr, which is also found in Swedish runic inscriptions. Asgarthcroft, a field name recorded in 1523 in Aberford, West Yorkshire, had Ásgerða or Ásgerðr as its first element. Both elements are common in Old Norse name-formation, the first meaning Ás- ‘a god’ and the second being the feminine equivalent of masculine -garðr, probably meaning something like ‘protection’.
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Viking Names
Thormod
Þormóðr is an Old Norse male personal name from Þór- ‘the god’s name Þórr’ compounded with –móðr ‘excitement, wrath’. The name is common in both Norway and Iceland and is also recorded in Sweden and Denmark. It is also found in Normandy both independently and in place-names. Þormóðr is also the first element in Thurmaston, Leicestershire.
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Viking Names
Kati
Káti is a fairly common male personal name in the Viking world, occurring in the inscriptions on at least six Swedish rune-stones. It is the first element in the place-name Caythorpe, Nottinghamshire. There are also several place-names in Lincolnshire which contain this name, including Cadeby and Caythorpe. The name may originally have been a nickname, as it means ‘the cheerful one’.
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Viking Names
Stari
Stari (also Starri) is mainly found in Iceland, though there is one in a Swedish rune-stone inscription and it has been suggested as the first element in Staythorpe, Nottinghamshire. It derives from a by-name meaning ‘one who stares’.
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Viking Names
Skeggi
The male name Skeggi is sporadically recorded across Scandinavia and Iceland in the Viking Age and later. It forms the first element of Skegness, Lincolnshire, with Old Norse nes ‘headland’. The name possibly derives from the Old Norse word Skegg, meaning ‘beard’.
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Viking Names
Hrok
Hrókr is not a common name in Scandinavia, though it does appear in a couple of Swedish runic inscriptions. The name is also the first element of Roxby, Lincolnshire.
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Viking Names
Ingirid
Ingiríðr is very common in Norway but less so in Iceland. It is also recorded in Denmark and Sweden. The name is also attested in medieval documents from Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. It is also the first element of the place-name Ingerthorpe, West Yorkshire. It is an Old Norse compound name with its first element Ingi–, which is of doubtful origin but might relate to a Greek word meaning ‘lance’ or ‘staff’ combined with –fríðr, related to Gothic frījōn ‘to love’, with original meaning ‘loved’, later ‘fair’. In origin it is thus the same name as Ingifríðr.