So you want to bear an authentic Norman name

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'Croih' looks slightly off as well, though 'Croix' (as in, French for cross) does sound like croih. Drako too is a faux-Greek name, seems to me. :razz:
 
"Drako" at least could conceivably be the nickname of a Frankish tough guy trying to be cool, although it is a loanword ultimately of Greek origin. As for that "War Lord" movie, yeeeah seems like Hollywood didn't do the research :grin:
 
Hróða,

What about Norman (proto-)surnames based on ancestors or places? There is for example a modern French surname Anquetil. Was this a direct naming after a Norse ancestor called Ásketill, or rather a designation of hailing form a town called Anquetilville?

Also, I've learned that the surname Disney is Norman-French, which is properly D'Isigney, that is 'of Isigney', a small place near Bayeux. :grin:
 
Man. This thread bums me out... It reminds me that my own surname is Anglo-Norman in origin. And also that a certain film involving a gay-boy-wizard bastardised my own precious surname.

Grainger.
 
Éadríc said:
Hróða,

What about Norman (proto-)surnames based on ancestors or places? There is for example a modern French surname Anquetil. Was this a direct naming after a Norse ancestor called Ásketill, or rather a designation of hailing form a town called Anquetilville?
Probably the former. While surnames based on manors, towns and the like were common (especially among the nobles, who even ditched older, ancestor-based surnames), I don't think the -ville ending would have been dropped from the surname, and since surnames based on ancestors were probably just as common, it's more likely that Anquetil descends directly from a dude, not from his country house; but the latter is still possible.

Of course, virtually everything can end up being a surname: nicknames (Le Brun, "the brown"; Gernon, "mustache", etc), occupations... After all, not long before the setting of Víkingr, "surnames" were exactly that - nicknames (in French, surnom still means "nickname"). The transition towards hereditary family names wasn't complete yet.
Also, I've learned that the surname Disney is Norman-French, which is properly D'Isigney, that is 'of Isigney', a small place near Bayeux. :grin:
So that's why I don't really like Disney anymore!
 
I updated the OP with some minor corrections to the names Anselme (<Anselm), Willelme (<Willelm) and Ive (used to have "Yve" listed as an alternative form) and to the section about the Old French subject case.
 
Will, lets make a deal, you don't run over me by your pony and i don't eat your pony  :grin:
 
Uga the Caveman said:
Will, lets make a deal, you don't run over me by your pony and i don't eat your pony  :grin:

That still means Uga can kill it and send it to me, directly to my mailbox, in very small pieces, right?
 
Pff. It's stolen from the 13th Warrior, though the appropriate version would be Hergeirr, with the same meaning as Heregar (Army Spear), so don't you come around and thinking that I'm a Frenchie.
 
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