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Can you please tell me when English names were first used in their present form? Would the names of, say, Margaret, Sarah, Joseph and Albert have been written like this in the year 1000AD? If not, what were they like, and when did they change to their present form?
Thanks. Caro.
Thanks. Caro.
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Here's a list of some of the names used in England before and around 1000 AD:
http://www.accd.edu/sac/leassist/bede.htm
AS you can see, most of the names are unfamiliar.
However, after the Norman conquest of England in 1067 naming practices changed. Many of the names in use then are recognizable to us today. Here's a list from the 13th century:
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/eng13/
(the names in bold are modern forms; the ones listed underneath the bold names are the forms used in the 13th century)
http://www.accd.edu/sac/leassist/bede.htm
AS you can see, most of the names are unfamiliar.
However, after the Norman conquest of England in 1067 naming practices changed. Many of the names in use then are recognizable to us today. Here's a list from the 13th century:
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/eng13/
(the names in bold are modern forms; the ones listed underneath the bold names are the forms used in the 13th century)
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note
The names listed at the second link are in their written, Latinized forms (ie the -us ending). The author of the website himself states that we cannot be sure what the spoken forms were.
The names listed at the second link are in their written, Latinized forms (ie the -us ending). The author of the website himself states that we cannot be sure what the spoken forms were.
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