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This is a really big list of historically accurate Regency era names

for anyone looking for old-fashioned baby names, anyone writing a novel set in England in the Regency era, or even anyone writing Bridgerton fanfic. (And if you are interested in writing a novel set in 1800s England, check out my 50 Plot Ideas from Regency and Victorian Novels.)

Many of these names would have nicknames, such as “Nora” for “Honora,” Molly” for “Mary,” etc., but I’ve only listed diminutives if they were given names in their own right.

Most of them are common names, but there are a few weird names in there, too. The asterisks indicate some of the most popular names of the 1800s in Great Britain (and in the United States, too.)

I’ve separated them out into female names, male names, and last names. 1800s names didn’t change quickly from decade to decade, so although I focused on the Jane Austen period, these would be perfectly appropriate for a story set in the Victorian era as well.

To put this together, I used portions of UK Census Returns of 1801 and 1821, snippets of Burke’s Peerage 1826 that I could find online, and various parish records from the early 19th century. You can also find plenty of inspiration for historical names and other Regency era details from the novels of Georgette Heyer, Susan Ferrier, Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Amelia Opie, and Elizabeth Inchbald.

I hope you find this list helpful, and if you’re working on a novel set in the Regency era, I hope you have great success with it!

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Regency Names for Women

Abigail

Agnes

Albina

Alice*

Alicia

Amelia

Amy

Angel

Anne*/Anna/Ann*

Arabella

Augusta

Awellah

Barbara

Beatrice

Betsey

Betty*

Bridget

Caroline

Catherine*/Katherine

Cecilia

Charity

Charlotte*

Christianna

Deborah

Diana

Dinah

Dorothy, Dorothea

Edith

Eleanor*

Eliza*

Elizabeth*

Ellen*

Emily

Emma

Emmeline

Esther*

Fanny*

Florentia

Frances*

Frederica

Georgiana/Georgina

Grace*

Hannah*

Harriet*

Helen/Helena

Henrietta

Hester

Honora

Horatia

Isabel*, Isabella

Jane*

Jean

Jemima

Jenny

Jessie

Joan, Joanna

Joyce

Judith

Julia

Juliana

Juliet

Kitty

Laura

Lavinia

Leah

Letitia

Lilias

Louisa

Louisa-Margaretta

Lucy*

Lucy-Anne

Lydia

Madalene

Margaret

Maria*

Marianne

 

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Marina

Margaret*

Marjorie

Martha*

Mary*

Mary Ann,* Mary-Anne

Matilda

Miriam

Modesty

Nancy*

Patience

Peace

Peggy

Phillis/Phyllis

Phoebe

Priscilla

Prudence

Rachel*

Rebecca*

Rose

Ruth

Sally*

Sarah*

Selina

Sophia*

Susan*

Susanna/Susannah

Tabitha

Teresa

Theodosia

Unity

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Regency Era Names for Men

Aaron

Abraham*

Adam

Adolphus

Albinus

Albion

Alexander*

Algernon

Allan

Ambrose

Americus

Andrew

Anthony

Archibald

Arthur

Augustus

Aylmer

Baldwin

Barnard

Benedict

Benjamin*

Brook

Carew

Cecil

Charles*

Christmas

Christopher*

Coape

Colin

Cornelius

Daniel*

David*

Donald

Dudley

Duncan

Edmund*

Edward*

Edwin

Eli

Elias

Emanuel

Ephraim

Erasmus

Ernest

Evan

Ewan

Ezra

Felton

Francis*

Frederick

George*

Gerard

Gibbs

Giles

Gilbert

Graham

Guy

Harcourt

Harry

Henry*

Herbert

Honor

Horace

Hudson

Hugh*

Isaac*

Jacob

Jahleel

James*

Jasper

Jeffrey

Jeremy

Jerome

John*

Jonathan*

Joseph*

Joshua

Josiah

Josias

Kenneth

Laurence

Leonard

Levi

Lewis

Lodge

Loftus

Ludlow

Luke

Mark

Martin

Matthew*

Meshach

Michael

Miles

Morgan

Moses

Nash

Nathaniel

Neil

Nicholas

Noah

Norman

Obadiah

Oliver

Owen

Patrick

Percy

Percival

Peregrine

Peter*

Philip*

Phineas

Ralph

Reginald

Reuben

Richard*

Robert*

Roger

Rollo

Sampson

Samuel*

Seth

Shadrack

Sherborne

Silas

Simon

Solomon

Stephen

Theophile

Thomas*

Timothy

Walter

William*

Regency Era Last Names

Some of these names have aristocratic associations, and many do not. I didn’t separate them out because I worried about getting some of them wrong. However, most readers aren’t going to know the difference and aren’t going to look it up. Every historical author has to make the personal decision about how much time they want to invest in meticulous research in order to be historically accurate, versus how much time they want to spend actually writing their stories. If you’re a stickler for accuracy and want to make sure you’re using authentic noble names, the Landed Families of Britain and Ireland may be of some interest to you here.

Agar

Allen

Andrews

Arnold

Ayles

Balfour

Baker

Bannerman

Banfield

Barnes

Bamber

Barnet

Barrington

Bartlett

Barton

Bastable

Baxter

Bolt

Bragg

Brown

Beaumont

Beauchamp

Birks

Blackmore

Bolton

Bond

Booth

Bowles

Boyle

Burk

Butler

Buxton

Brooks

Browning

Byrd

Caddy

Campbell

Caney

Carter

Chant

Clark

Clarke

Cluett

Colborne

Comerford

Conolly

Cooke

Coombs

Cooper

Crampton

Crauford

Creassey

Crew

Cull

Curtis

Davis

Daw

Dean

Dennis

Dodge

Dowding

Down

Drake

Drew

Dunn

Dyke

Edge

Egerton

Elkins

Ellis

Fagean

Fernside

Fifett

Filliol

Finch

Fitzgerald

Fitzroy

Fitzwilliam

Fletcher

Follett

Forbes

Fortescue

Frampton

Fudge

Gale

Galpin

Garvey

George

Gibbon

Gibbs

Gillett

Gillingham

Godwin

Grant

Grave

Green

Gregory

Grove

Gouldsmith

Gulliver

Guppy

Guy

Haddington

Hancock

Hann

Hardy

Harding

Harris

Haskett

Hayward

Hatcher

Hawkins

Herbert

Hervey

Hill

Hind

Hodge

Honeyfield

Horder

Hose

Hoskins

Hosmer

Howe

Hughes

Humphries

Hunt

Hunter

Huntington

Hyatt

Jarvis

Jennings

Johnson

Jones

Keats

Kendall

Kingman

Knight

Lambert

Langley

Leeson

Lewis

Lightholder

Lilley

Linfield

Livingston

Lock

Lockhart

Longman

Lovell

Lush

Lymington

Major

Mead

Miash

Merchant

Miller

Montgomery

Montagu

Moore

Morton

Mowatt

Mowbray

Mullens

Munro

Neal

Needs

Nicholson

Nightingale

Norman

Notley

Nott

Oakley

Oliver

Parsons

Pemberton

Pembroke

Perry

Pike

Place

Plowman

Powell

Pratt

Price

Radcliff

Rake

Ramsbury

Rayment

Read

Reid

Reeves

Repington

Richards

Ridlington

Ridout

Robins

Rowe

Rowley

Rutley

Ruteledge

Russ

Russell

Scriven

Sculthorpe

Sedgewick

Selkirk

Sempill

Sergeant

Seton

Seymour

Sharp

Shepherd

Sims

Sinclair

Skeffington

Skinner

Slade

Slyfeel

Snowley

Soulden

Spranklin

St. John

St. George

St. Vincent

St. Clair

Stanhope

Stanton

Stapleton

Stewart

Storey

Sullyard

Stay

Stewart

Stickland

Stone

Sweet

Swinton

Talbot

Tattershall

Templeton

Terrell

Thorne

Thrup

Townshend

Trew

Tulk

Turner

Trowbridge

Vaughan

Vivian

Voss

Walford

Wallace

Ware

Warren

Warwick

Watts

Webb

Weston

Windham

White

Wilds

Wilmington

Wilson

Wood

Worthington

Wright

Wynn

Wycliff

Yeatman

Young

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This list and several other lists of historical names are in my book Master Lists for Writers. It also includes lots of help for description, plotting, and more. Check it out!

 

Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan

Do you have 1800s names you’d like to recommend? Do you need other kinds of help with your Regency or Victorian novel? Let me know in the comments! Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

 

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