I started researching medieval last names from England a long time ago…
When I was writing my first-ever medieval romance, which never saw the light of day! (Honestly, it’s just as well, though my husband still swears it’s a good story.) I feel like I came full circle years later when I wrote my magical romcom novel, Her Knight at the Museum. When it was optioned for a movie, the producer told me she was impressed with the research!
This list of medieval English surnames includes patronyms, occupational names, and place names. You can always make up a place name by using a specific place in England, e.g. “Richard Mersey” for a Richard who lives by the Mersey River (or whose parents or grandparents did), or “Joan Ludlow” for a Joan who lives in the town of the same name.
If you need first names, I’ve got them! Check out my lists of medieval male names and medieval female names from England.
I hope you find the perfect last name. And be sure to bookmark the post or pin it to Pinterest for future reference!
Medieval Surnames
Achard
Alder
Atwood
Achard
d’Albert
d’Ambray
Arundel (I was positive this was the name of a horse in a fantasy novel, but if it was, I can’t find it now)
Ashdown
Auber
Bainard
Baker
Ballard
de Balon
Barnes
Basset
Bauldry
Baxter
Beaumont
de Beauvais
Becker
Bellecote
of Benwick
Beringar
Bertran
de Bethencourt
le Blanc
Bolam
Bosc (a medieval surname for someone who grows pears—haha, not really. “Bosc” means “the woods”)
Brewer
Brooke
Browne
Bouchard
Bigge
le Blanc
de Blays / de Blaise
Brickenden
Brooker
Burrel
Burroughs
Butler
Cambray
Campion
Canouville
Capron
Cardon
Cardonell
Carpenter
Capron
Carter
Cecil
Cherbourg
Challener
Challenge (I have to admit this one sounds fake, but I can attest that it’s an authentic medieval English surname)
de Challon
Chauncy
de Civille
Clarke
Clay
of Cleremont
Colleville
Comyn
le Conte
Cook/Cooke
Cooper
Corbet
Corbin
de Coucy
Courcy
Court
Cross
Crump
Cumin
Custer
Dale
Danneville
Darcy (of course, we associate this medieval last name with the Regency era)
Dean
Dodd
Drake
Draper
Deschamps
Destain
Dumont
Durandal (I think this would be a great knight name)
Durville
Duval
Dyer
Emory
de Erley
Evelyn
Faintree
Faucon
de Ferrers
FitzAlan
FitzOsbern
Fitzroy
Fletcher
Foreman
Ford
Forester
Fox
Fuller
Gael
Gary
Gaveston
Giffard
Gillian
Gilpin
Glanville
Glen
Godart
Godefroy
de Grandmesnil
le Grant
Graves
de Grey
Griffen (this medieval last name, and variations of it, was also a first name in the Middle Ages)
Grosseteste
Guideville
Gurney
Hachet
Harcourt
Hauville
Hawthorn
de la Haye
Hayward
Hendry
Holland
Holmes
Hood
Hope
Ide
de Ireby
Kirk (this is a medieval surname used to indicate someone lives near a church)
de Lacy
Langdon
Lee/Lea
Lister
de Logris
de Lorris
Lucy
Lynom
Malet
Mallory
Manners
la Mare
de Maris
Marshal
Martel
Mathan
May
de Montfort
Mortmain
Marchmain
Mason
Mathan
Medley
Mercer/Mercier
Mortimer
Mowbray
Napier
Nash
Nesdin
Neuville
Noyers
le Orphelin
Osmont/Osmond
Papon
Parmenter
Patris
Parry
Port
Paschal
Payne
Perci
Perroy
Peveril
Picard
de la Pole
de la Porte
Prestcote
Rainecourt
Raleigh
Rames
Renold
de La Reue
Reviers
de La Roche
des Roches
Roger
Rolfe
le Roux
Rowntree
Saint-Clair
Saint-Germain
Saint-Leger
le Savage
Sawyer
Seller
de Servian
Shepherd
Slater
Taylor
Teller
Thibault
Thorne
Tilly
Tull/Tolle
Tyler (an occupation name for someone who does tilework)
Vaughan
Vaux
Verdun
Vernon
Ward
deWarenne
of Warwick
Watteau
Webber
Weaver
Wells
of Wichelsea
Wilde
Willoughby
Wood
Wright
Writingham
If you think of any medieval last names to add to this list, please let me know. I want to make it into a fantastic medieval last name generator. And if you liked the list, you might also like my book Master Lists for Writers, a go-to reference.
Be sure to sign up for the blog, if you haven’t already, so you don’t miss any future lists for writers—you can do that below. Thanks for reading, and happy writing!
Surnames like Wright, Sawyer, and Cooper often relate to the trades of the family.
I knew about cooper (surprisingly enough, there was a “cooperage” in a town we used to live in where they made and sold handmade barrels!) but I never thought about Wright and Sawyer…of course those would be occupation names. Great info!
Wow! These are amazing, Bryn. I don’t know how you do it. Thank you. I write contemporary romantic suspense, but I’m always looking for unusual names.
You’re too kind, Deborah! Thank you. Happy holidays to you!
Location based names require a bit of care. For example, “York” is a city. However, the name “York” would not have been applied to a person living in York. After all, William’s many neighbours named William all live in York. Much more likely it would have been applied to a family or person -from- the very-distant city of York. (Or having the famous title “York”, applying to the county, not the city, but many of the earliest known examples of the surname York occur at the other end of the country in Wiltshire, Somerset, Cambridgeshire, etc)
On the other hand, Langley originally meant “long field” or “long glade” (paradoxically, also “wood” which is rather the opposite), so could be applied to a person living in or near the field/glade, since Bob Langley would be distinguished from the Bob Beck, whose house is beside the “stream”.
Moreover many English place-name derived surnames also existed – in period – with a “de/des” in front of it, meaning, of course, “of”, so “de Langeleye” existed, and just as “de Montford” existed, so did “Montford”.
Also, we mustn’t forget those variations in spelling. For example, my surname “Jessop”. How badly can one mangle that? Yet it’s had over 40 variations over the last 8 centuries, some so extreme one could be forgiven thinking they were completely different names. We saw this in old parish records. A new village priest arrives and writes new parish entries of a family of Jessop as, say, Gesop, Jesset or Jesuppe, or vice versa – and it sticks (or changes yet again when the next priest arrives). Creates a real challenge when doing genealogy.
NB. Beck, Jessop (and it’s many variations), Langley (Langlee, Langleigh, Langeleye, …), Bowyer and York all existed in the Medieval period so can be added to the list.
Hi Christopher! This is fantastic info. I know readers will really appreciate it, too. Thanks so much!
Hi Mrs. Donovan!
I frequently view your blog posts and refer to them whenever I need that extra something to make my writing special! I don’t remember if I’ve commented on this before, but my twin sister and I are writing a series on time-travelling teens and another stand-alone novel about the survival and reconnection of twin sisters in the midst of a natural disaster. Today we got two of your books for Christmas gifts, the Master List For Writers, and the 5,000 Writing Prompts!
They’re awesome! They both help us greatly, and I just wanted to write to you here as a thank you for all the effort and hard-work writing theses books must’ve taken you! Thank you so much for being an awesome and helpful author, I would love for you to know that both my sister and I strive to be like you one day!
Happy Christmas!
-The Creative Glowworms (As we call ourselves hehe 🙂 )
(P.S, I meant to email this to you, but I had no idea how to and if you even accept emails from strangers, so I hope this comment isn’t too unrelated to the topic, cause it was a great article by the way!)
Sydney, hi! Thanks so much for reading the blog. You and your sister’s stories sound terrific. I’m so happy you like the books! And I really appreciate the kind words—you made my day! I hope you and your sister have lots of fun and success with your writing. (Creative Glowworms—I love it!)
I’m so glad! Thanks as well for the kind words, YOU made Madi’s and my day!
What’s a good resource for finding names of characters based in an ancient African fantasy setting?
Hi Zeke! I think I have a good link for you. Check it out and see what you think!
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/africannames.htm#9
Very cool!! Thanks very much!
You bet. Sounds like a great project!
Knowlton – one of two brothers knights of William the Conqueror, who lived on a knoll.
I’m loving , and getting lots of inspiration from, this ‘mini-series’ 😀
Arundel was the name of Hal’s horse in “The Silver Sun” by Nancy Springer. I read it back when I was in high school and was surprised to find out twenty years later it was an actual place and name.