Gerry and Julie's Landsknecht Site

Renaissance German Names



by Julie Adams



The following names were found in references to people living in 16th century Germany. While the list of women's names is shorter, it does give us insight into popular names of the times. Highest on the list are biblical names, names of saints, and then various classical names. Names often came in both a feminine version and masculine version.

Names used in period were constructed in several distinct patterns. One pattern used was the same as modern construction, first, middle, last, where last was a family name, i.e. Friedrich Johann Beham. The second type was the use of an occupation or place as a last name, i.e. Hans Schrieber, Hans der Schrieber, or Hans von Augsburg. Knights and nobleman usually went by their first name followed by the name of their fief or manor, i.e. Herr Ruprecht von Greyssen. The third pattern was a combination of any or all the above, i.e. Johan Sattler von Cili or Friedrich Beham der Nadler von Klau. Another pattern used a discriptor before the first name, or a discriptive statement after, i.e Schwartz Hans, Kleine Dietrich, or Georg der Rott. The final pattern used only a first name, or last name, or a nickname, i.e. Spagorl or Teuschel. Women's last names were also sometimes made feminine, i.e. Anna Buschlerin, but she might be called Anna Buschler as well. The books which were used were all translated into English, so spelling or translation errors are possible.

Women's Given Names



- Indicates there is a male equivalent found in period sources, but no female name was found in period references.
Adelheid
Adolpha
Afra
Agatha
Agnes
Alexandra
Alfonsine -
Alheyd
Amelia
Anastasia
Andrea
Angelica
Angelina
Anna
Annalesa
Annemarie
Antonia -
Apollonia
Augusta
Barbara
Beatrijs
Berta
Blanca
Bleckerynne
Brigitta
Carlotta -
Catharina
Christiane
Christina
Clara
Condradine -
Cornelia -
Cosima -
Crescentia
Dorothea
Druidgen
Edeltraut
Eleanor
Elfrieda
Elisabeth
Elsa
Elsbeth
Elspeth
Elss
Ennel
Erica
Ermingard
Eva
Felicitas
Fernanda -
 Else
Flora -
Francesca
Frederica
Frieda -
Fritzi -
Fya
Fygen
Gabriela -
Galena -
Genoveva
Georgia -
Gerda -
Gisela
Grete
Gretel
Grietgen
Grietkin
Gruner
Gysela
Haiga
Hanna
Hans
Hedwig
Helena
Henrietta -
Huberta -
Ida
Ilse,Ilsa
Irmgard
Irwina
Isolde
Jaquetta
Joan
Johanna
Josepha
Josephina -
Julia -
Kaila
Karyssa
Katarina
Katharina
Katherine
Kunigund
Kunigunde
Laura
Leissl
Leonora -
Leopoldine -
Liesel
Liselotte
 Lucia
Louisa
Lucretia
Madela
Magdalena
Margarethe
Margrethe
Maria
Marretta
Martha
Martina -
Mathilda
Mayken
Mechthild
Michaela -
Nicole -
Niesgin
Octavia -
Orthey
Ottilia
Paula -
Petra -
Petronella
Phillipa -
Phyllis
Rosina
Rychterin
Sabina
Sibalda -
Sibylla
Sibylle
Sigfreda -
Sigrid -
Solvig
Stephana
Stephanie
Susanna
Susanne
Termeckerin
Theodora -
Thomasina -
Uda
Ulrica
Ursula
Valborga
Verena
Veronica
Walburga
Wilhelmina
Zymburg


Men's Given Names



- Indicates that a feminine version of this name was found in period.

Abraham
Achatius
Achaz
Achim
Adam
Adolf
Albrecht
Alexander
Alfred
Alphonso
Ambrosius
Andreas
Anthony
Anton
Appolonius -
Arnold
Arthur
Artus
August
Augustin
Augustus
Azmus (short for Erasmus)
Balthazar
Barend
Barholomaeus
Barnabas
Barthel
Bartholomous
Bernhard
Bernward
Berthold
Bonaventure
Boris
Carl
Casimir
Caspar
Christian
Christof
Christoph
Claus
Clovis
Conrad
Conz
Cornelius
Cosmo
Danel
David
De Vos
Derich
Desiderius
Diepolt
Dieric
Dieter
Dietrich
Dirk
Dominic
Eberhard
Ebolt
Egidius
Egidius
Eitel
Elias
Eligius
Endres
Eobanus
Erasmus
Ergot
Erhard
Erich
Ernst
Eugen
Eustace
Ewalt
Eytlfridrich
Fedor
Felix
Ferdinand
Ferdinand
Florian
Franz
Franziskus
Friedrich
Fritz
Gallin
Geiler
Geoffrey
Georg
Gerd
 Gabriel
Gerhard
Gero
Gerrit
Gilbert
Gilg
Gothard
Gottfried
Gotz
Gregor
Guldemunde
Gunter
Gunther
Gustav
Hans
Hanskarl
Hansl
Hartmann
Hartmut
Heinrich
Heintz
Heinz
Hektor
Helmut
Helmuth
Hendrich
Hermann
Heyg
Hieronymus
Hoffman
Hubert
Hubertus
Hugo
Ignatius
Israhel
Jacob
Jakob
James
Jan
Janos
Jeckel
Jeremias
Jesse
Joachim
Jobst
Johann
Johannes
Joos
Jorg
Joris
Joseph
Joss
Jost
Juan
Julius
Jurgen
Justus
Karl
Kaspar
Klaus
Kolomon
Konrad
Konstantin
Kunz
Lanz
Lazarus
Lennard
Lenz
Leo
Leonard
Leonhard
Leonhart
Leopold
Lettel,Lettelin
Lienhard
Lienhart
Linhart
Loflinger
Lorenz
Lothar
Louis
Lucas
Ludwig
Luiz
Lynssl
Marc
 Mang
Marquart
Martin
Marx
Maternus
Mathis
Mathius
Matthaus
Matthew
Maximillian
Melchior
Meyer
Michael
Moritz
Nicholas
Nicodemas
Nicolas
Niklas
Nils
Nisin
Oswald
Oswolt
Ottheinrich
Otto
Pankratz
Paul
Pengel
Pepin
Peter
Petrus
Phillip
Piotr
Quentin
Rap
Raymond
Reinhard
Reinhart
Reinprecht
Rickhart
Roger
Rolf
Rudolph
Ruprecht
Sebald
Sebaldus
Sebastian
Segfried
Severin
Sigismund
Sigmund
Silvester
Simon
Sixt
Sixten
Spagorl
Steffan
Stephan
Terrence
Theobald
Theodor
Theodorich
Thomas
Thorsten
Timotheus
Tobias
Tringen
Tristan
Ulin
Ulrich
Urbanus
Urs
Valentin
Valerius
Veit
Vinzenz
Virgil
Vogte
Volk
Walter
Weiner
Werner
Wilhelm
Willi
Wllibald
Wolf
Wolfgang
Zorg


Last Names



Aleander
Altdorfer
Althusius
Amman
Anckenreuter
Asper
Baldung
Bebel
Beck
Behaim
Beham
Bosch (Dutch)
Brahe
Brantner
Braun
Brenz
Breu
Breugel (Dutch)
Breytenbach
Brunfels
Bucer
Buchner
Bugenhagen
Burckhardt
Burgkmair
Capito
Carlstadt
Cock (Dutch)
Coeck (Dutch)
Commenius
Cranach
Cuspinian
Denk
Durer
Ebwein
Eck
Eckhart
Eisner
Falkensteiner
Feyerabend
Franck
Friedank
Frühauf
Fuch
Fugger
Gassel (Dutch)
Grebel
Grünewald
Hagenberg
Halder
Hanse
Harsherin
Hechinger
Hetzer
Hofhaimer
Holbein
Hollywars
 Jamnitzer
Höchstetter
Huber
Humpis
Hut
Imhot
Institoris
Kappeler
Keppler
Khlesl
Kinsfelt
Koberger
Kölderer
Krantz
Lang
Luther
Massmünster
Massys (Dutch)
May
Melanchthon
Melber
Müllner
Münzer
Myer
Nützel
Offenberg
Ortelius
Osiander
Oterle
Pacher
Peutinger
Pirkenheimer
Pirkheimer
Plarer
Pollak
Quadt
Reichlich
Reisch
Reuchlin
Reuss
Reuwich
Rörl
Sachs
Salesar
Schäufelein
Schenck
Scheurl
Schiering
Schöner
Schwartz
Schwenkfeld
Scwartz
Simons
Slakany
Spalatin
Sprenger
 Schongauer
Springinklee
Stradanus
Sundler
Suso
Tauler
Teschitz
Teuschel
Thurn
Trautsun
Treitzsaur
Truchsess
Tucher
Valera
van Aelst (Dutch)
van Yfan (Dutch)
Vesalius
Veter
Volk
von Altenhaus
von Bora
von Burtenbach
von Cili
von Eulenhaus
von Frundsberg
von Greyssen
von Hohenegg
von Hutten
von Keiserberg
von Kinckelbach
von Kökeritz
von Miltitz
von Raug
von Rot
von Ruppa
von Sandrart
von Sickingen
von Slandersberg
von Trimberg
von Waldeck
Wallenstein
Wanner
Weigel
Wein
Welser
Weydehart
Weytmulner
Wilke
Winter
Wrangel
Wunderlich
Zainer
Zebitz
Zuberle
Zucker
Zwingli

References:



These period names were gleaned from the Triumph of Maximillian, The World of Durer, The Reformation, Breugel, The Book of Trades, Magdalena and Balthazar, Three Behaim Boys, and Lucas Cranach. These are all English language translations. The list of names here is not to be considered a complete list, but contains a sample representation of names from the Holy Roman Empire.


Julie Adams ©, 6/92 All Rights Reserved


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