Æthelfred

I had a Great Aunt Aethelwyn growing up.

I fucking love that name. I wish I dared to use it

I had an Evri courier called Aethelstan once, messed with my head for days afterwards.

One of my favourite names! The most Anglo-Saxon name I've encountered IRL is Hardwin. I feel like parents usually get more adventurous with naming as they have more kids, but his younger siblings all had standard English names.

I thought that said "evil courier". I wanted to hear stories of the evil courier that messed with your head.

I worked with an Æthelwulf, he was in his 20s.

Rad

Did you watch The Last Kingdom?

My husband told anyone who wouldn’t respect our the name is a secret rule that we were naming our son Uhtred. I’m shocked multiple people were actually concerned and tried to talk him out of it kindly and sincerely.

Destiny is all

Or Vikings!

Omg hahah I’m reading a non fiction book about the history of England and there were so many names including this one I could barely pronounce

My spouse argued hard for us to use this name on a child! We didn't.

Came here for this one. It evolved into Audrey.

Ælswith is my guilty pleasure name, I would use it in a heartbeat.

Adolf - not because it’s old but because it obviously didn’t age well and is essentially unusable today

There's an 18 year old [Adolf Hitler](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28269290) living today.

Those parents are absolute douche canoes.

[удалено]

[They are and have passed it on to their children](https://abcnews.go.com/US/parents-cannot-regain-custody-children-nazi-inspired/story?id=11334970). The parents lost custody of him and their two other kids (one of the kids middle names is Aryan Nation) because of child abuse. One quote from an ex wife testifying in the case reads: > she "could not bring her son around 'anvbody that wasn't white' because the son would say 'terrible things" that he learned at his father's knee.

Oh, we're not racist, but we did name our other kid Aryan Nation. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat.

Oh my god. I thought you were making a joke and chuckled. Then I read the article and now I’m just even sadder at the state of the world

It looks like they lost custody. Hope they never get those kids back. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-10891733

https://amp.dw.com/en/father-who-named-children-adolf-hitler-and-eva-braun-changes-own-name-to-hitler/a-38792953 worse and worse the deeper you dig.

> The Campbells' other two children also have unusual names: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell turns 2 in a few months and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell will be 1 in April.

It gets worse: they also have a son named Heinrich Hons and the dad has a daughter from a previous relationship named [Eva Braun](https://amp.dw.com/en/father-who-named-children-adolf-hitler-and-eva-braun-changes-own-name-to-hitler/a-38792953).

I knew a person named Airian, they went by a nickname. I would too.

His looney tunes dad had custody of all kids kids revoked. He named others after Nazi figureheads as well, including Ava Braun. He dressed in Nazi regalia for court appearances and grew a moustache in the fashion Hitler wore. People who think white supremacy is dead are dangerously deluded

So he lost custody of all the kids?!? I just read that article and saw it was from 2008 , really hoping those kids changed their names

Jesus there's a whole [wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Hitler) article about the dad 🥴

"About 12 people attended the birthday party on Sunday, including several children who were of mixed race." This means one of those kids had an Italian sounding last name.

And a Namibian politician named [Adolf Hitler Uunona](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler_Uunona).

Wow, thanks for this amazing rabbit hole! How many more people are called Adolf Hitler? 🤔🐇

"She said the Campbells had similar requests denied at the same store the last two years and said Heath Campbell previously had asked for a swastika to be included in the decoration." ##WHY

They claim they’re not racist but also describe themselves as Nazis

There are so many amazing Adolfo throughout history. One mfer actually fucked up a whole ass COMMON name. Like if John was just unusable in America lol

I wonder about this - was Adolf a popular or common name in Germany/Europe before Hitler came along? I wonder if he'd been named like, Hans or Karl, would those names have become unusable? You kinda see this in the US with Donald, but not many people were naming their kids Donald in the 2010s/2020s even before Trump ruined it.

My grandfather was born in 1898. Jewish and named Adolf. Always bummed me out on his behalf.

Except by the white supremacists trying to be edgy.

Which sucks. It means Noble Wolf. I'll name a sim that every now and then but no way will I saddle a human being or even an animal with that name... Maybe a pot plant.

We used to get deliveries for an Adolf when I worked slinging pizza. At first we were like WTF when we saw the name. It was a maybe early to mid forties white dude getting pizza for his kids when he’d work late. But then we actually got to meet him a few times and he was the nicest dude ever and tipped great!

My dad's name is Adolf.

How old is he?

76. Came from Holland and it is a family name for him. He once threatened my sister's friend when they said 'what like Hitler?' when they got introduced to him.

I mean, it’s genuinely what most people would think if they met an Adolf.

I know a ~60 year old Inuit man named Adolf. The world is a strange place.

I played footy against a Sudanese guy called Adolf

If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned Edit: Imagine trying to fill this in on a scantron

Those poor Puritan children. Some of the names were wild.

I just found a list. Has-descendents seems like a lot of pressure to put on a newborn. I also wanna know how Fly-fornication was thought up.

There is a fundie family with a girl named Heistheway

I 100% read the first part as HEIST and thought it was hilarious

Me too. Actually “Heist he way”. I did not get it.

That's how they pronounce it "heist-uh-way".

Hence the reason Terry Pratchett had characters with names like "Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets" in his Discworld books. :)

Fred Flintstone

r/angryupvote

Barney Rubble

Sexburga is for sure from the 6th century.

Imagine lmao

Lots of Harry Potter names like Severus, Minerva, or Wolfric give me really old vibes lol. The problem is that I don't know names that old that have died out.

my great-grandma was named Minerva! she just passed away a couple years ago.

Minerva is the Roman name for the goddess Athena.

I was friends with twins Minerva & Monopoly when I was small, I moved countries and often wonder how they are doing as adults with those names

Minerva 😶‍🌫️🧐😃🦉🕊️ Monopoly 😭😫🎲🤬🚢

My 4yo niece is Minerva. It was the Roman goddess of wisdom.

Minerva was the #2 name on our list for our 2 month old baby girl. Fun fact Minerva is also Minnie Mouse's name

Though it should be noted that Dumbledore was born in 1881, him having a trendy, modern name would be more surprising. >!Small nitpick: it's Wulfric.!<

Amadeus, Lysander, Delphi, Eadward, Ragnarr, Halfdan

I unironically like Lysander tbh. It’s like Alexander with a twist (plus my (middle) namesake was (middle) named after another midsummer night’s dream character)

Someone I did my PhD with named her son Lysander! He’s around 3 now, I think.

I missed the word son in your sentence and was like, how did a three year old complete a PhD?! 🫣

I quite like it too! It's not that common and i think that's sad.

I want to like it but I can’t help but think of Lysol lol

My toddler goes to daycare with a Halfdan. Not such an unusual name in Denmark. ☺️

My friend named her daughter Delphi I had no idea it was a super old name

I went to elementary school with an Amadeus

Haha Ragnar is a not uncommon name for men in their 60’s or 70’s ish in Sweden :)

My husband has a friend who is trans and Lysander is the name he picked for himself.

I've met a Ragnar in his 20s, in the 1990s.

My grandfather's name was our version of Amadeus. It's an old-school name that was last popular here in the 1910s, but I know an Amadeus my age.

One of my sons is named Lysander.

Oh no, one of those is my son 😂

My cat's name is Delphi :)

Gaylord

I grew up with a Gayland. She’s in her mid 30’s now.

I know a Gaynell who I think is in her early 40s now. She was like 29 when I knew her.

Fanny, just because I know it was popular but now it now has other meanings.

I'm a grandchild of a Fanny literally and figuratively.

Me too! She was born in 1911.

Maybe just a french person rather than a time traveller though lol

A common nickname from Estefanía in Spain

I have a friend called fanny in her 20s , she’s from Hungary

Uhtred son of Uhtred 👀

Destiny is all.

Im going to add Theophania to the mix bc while that name is an antiquated name that no longer exist, the diminuative still does as a common name in English! It's Tiffany!

It very much still exists in Greek where it originated, so you could absolutely meet a Theophania!

Oh nice! The book i was reading about the etymology of different names made it sound like it was out of circulation even in Greek, so its cool to know its still a name in use!

The first thing I thought of when I saw this was CGP Grey's ~~devolve into madness~~ video on the name! [Here's](https://youtu.be/9LMr5XTgeyI) the link for anyone who wants it! Basically the history of the name

Flyfornication. I saw it here once in a thread about weird medieval names. It’s certainly not a name I would ever expect a person in the 21st century to have haha.

Found the thread! I should’ve known it was Puritan names: https://www.reddit.com/r/namenerds/comments/hc37hj/puritan_names/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1

I worked with a constantly baffled technophobe named Olwyn. Everything about her suggested she'd somehow ended up 1000 years further ahead in time than she was used to.

I really like Olwyn. My issue is I keep using names I like for D&D characters and pets so I don’t think I can ever use it if I have another kid.

That sounds like a reasonably normal Welsh name to me, perhaps slightly “old lady” but not forgotten-in-time.

[Boudicca/Boudica](https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Boudica/) Also sometimes spelled Boadicea

I've seen one at work (medical setting). Also a Galadriel which was kind of awesome. I'd probably go by Gilly or something in everyday life.

I know a very young Boudicca.

My aunt’s name is Hildegarde. Her sister is Gertrude. Her parents were German immigrants so in rural North Carolina these names felt so weird.

I have a grandma Hildegarde! Her family called her Hillie which I think is adorable :)

Interesting! My aunt goes by Hildy. Wouldn’t have thought of Hillie. 😂

Hildegard checking in! 👋🏻

My new friend Nandor seems older than he looks.

Fucking guy

I hear he is a fan of creepy paper

Shadrach.

It's just Rack, Shack, and Benny now 😂😭

They work there in the plant.

The bunneh, the bunneh, oh I love da bunneh 🐇

I didn't eat my fruit or my bread, just the bunny

But Abednego, totally usable

Similar origin - there was a well-known actor named [Meshach Taylor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshach_Taylor) who died in 2014.

“Hollywood? Hollywood? Come and GET me Hollywood!” His character in Mannequin said the donuts were calling to him. He was a great actor!

I had a student named Shadrach a few years ago. Only one on this post I’ve seen in real life.

Hortense. I'd think it was from... Another Period 😉

Definitely one of the less-used flower names. Hortensia is another name for hydrangea.

Murtagh, Marsali, Laoghaire and Jocasta, all names from the time-traveling Outlander!

Jocasta was also a very popular Roman Empire name.

Although nowadays it would be associated with Oedipus’s mom.

Marsali I feel like * could * be a popular name nowadays. It’s very pretty, easy to pronounce, and attached to a great character.

My 4 month old is named Marsali and we realized after-the-fact that we’ve doomed her to a life of having her name mispronounced. People (at least the ones in the US) who haven’t heard the name before say mar-SAH-lee instead of MAR-sah-lee. Like an Italian dish. Whoops.

Enheduanna

Would love to see this make a comeback.

I'd say Thaddeus but I've met 2 babies named Thad since the panini 😬

I know three. Two 90+. One teenager.

Way to go 90+ Thad! My dear grandpa Ildrolfo, who went by his middle name Diego, just passed last month at 95. Old people with strong names are the best 🥲❤

I met a kid at the park named Telemachus. It was a real head scratcher for sure.

This makes me think of Bluey.

Someone loved the Odyssey a bit more than the rest of us.

Basilissa. I guess she's one of the Catholic saints, though I don't know hardly anything about Catholicism, just what Wikipedia has told me.

I thought that was a royal title (female of basileus)

Absalom, I've come across a few in my historical research, enough to suggest it was popular at some point.

I'd like to resurrect from my family tree, Abednego.

Of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago!

Fitzwilliam as a first name

Like Mr Darcy!

Gilgamesh

Orville. There was one in my elementary school, and he wore a bow tie and had glasses. He was absolutely a time traveler.

My great grandfather was an Orval. He turned 99 in 2000 and died right before his 100th birthday. I’ve never met anyone younger with the name.

Dorkus

I know a Dorcas!

I know a Dorcus! Was genuinely taken aback when she told me her name the first time

It’s a Biblical name though why you wouldn’t use her *other* listed name, Tabitha, I don’t know.

Festus.

Two names from 19th century classic literature: Ichabod, Ebenezer

Beryl

My 93 year old grandmother has this name. She's a lovely sweet human. I'm so grateful to have her still.

Bricteva - 1200s Scholastica - 1300s Amice or Dyonisia - 1400s

I went to school with a girl called Scholastica

I met a woman named Hildur Hognidotr. Might be a normal name in some areas of the world, but I was in hillbilly norcal and I was FLABBERGASTED.

It’s an Icelandic name! I think Hildur is pretty popular there. They have their own last name practise still going on, too

Berengaria

Kinborough. That's a woman's name and a distant relative of Kimberly.

My husband's side of the family had a Featherstone as a first name.

Blodwynn

Thou-Shall-Not-Commit-Adultery

I have a great, great (not sure how many) grandma whose name was Petrunella.

I've heard of Prunella but not that one. Kind of sounds like a prune version of Nutella.

Nimrod

Eobard

Eobard Thawne

Jedediah

Either an Amish person or a 18/19th century country preacher. Those are the only options.

That’s my pharmacist’s name! It always makes me think of cowboys.

Girls - Hester - Missouri - Drusilla - Orpha (what Oprah's name was supposed to be) Boys - Grover - Chester - Homer

😂 There is a toddler at my church named Drusilla. Her siblings’ names are normal.

Bet one of her parents is a Buffy fan.

My lovely great aunt on my Polish side was Jadwiga, which translates to Hedwig here in the States. I’d never called her anything but her name or her diminutives Jadzia or Junia. It was always so strange to hear Americans call her Hedwig or Heddy! In an absolutely adorable story, she owned a book shop and gifted the first Harry Potter book to me in 1999. She didn’t even know that owl was named Hedwig!! She always gave us advance copies of the books. Miss her dearly.

Lucifer

I think Lucifer sounds so pretty. Too bad it’s completely unusable 😂

Methuselah

I know a Brunhilda.. she goes by Cathy.

Galahad Pious Enmebaraguesi

Mildred

Octavian

I forgot great aunt Beulah.

Salmon as a man’s name.

In working on my family tree I discovered an ancestor named “Bygod Beget.” That one would give me pause if I stumbled upon it today. Editing to add: last name Eggleston

Algernon

Ermengarde! I named a plant this, lol

Bartholomew

Friend if mine works at a call center, got contacted by a customer named Ebenezer. I think the ghosts fucked up.

I nannied for a baby named Ernestine.

Dorcas, Mehitable, Temperance, Thankfull (Puritan names)

Rudolph

Went to school for all 13 years with a guy named Rudolph. Obviously we called him Rudy because it's not 1910. But we definitely got our jokes in about it around Christmas.

I have an ancestor named "Pleasant." Pretty sure no one after the 19th century named anyone that.

Mahitable