Feminine Given Names from Danmarks Gamle Personnavne

by Sara L. Friedemann (Aryanhwy merch Catmael)

© 2004 Sara L. Friedemann; all rights reserved
last updated 22Feb04

Introduction

The following are roughly 130 Danish feminine names found in pre-1600 records. The names are taken from Danmarks gamle personnavne, Udg. af Gunnar Knudsen og Marius Kristensen, under medvirkning af Rikard Hornby, (København: I kommission hos G.E.C. Gad, 1936-64), volume 2, parts 1 and 2; these two books cover medieval Danish surnames. The surnames are illustrated with examples of full names from medieval documents; I have extracted the feminine names, grouped them first by century, and then alphabetically, with each name in the century lists being linked to a page containing all variant spellings and citations of the name. This list is not an exhaustive list of feminine names in the source; the few names that were not clearly dated I have left out of this list.

A typical entry for a name will read as follows:

Anna	1403-1540 Grydestøbere, 1423 Alefelt, 1498 Bild

This is to be read as "Anna is dated to 1403-1540 under the heading Grydestøbere, 1423 under the heading Alefelt, and 1498 under the heading Bild".

The names are primarily from the 15th century, though a good deal are from the 16th century. The most common names are Elizabeth, Christina, Ellen, Katherine, and their variants and pet forms.


1200-1299
Cristina

1300-1399
Berta
Cristin
Cristina
Elsæ
Helenæ
Hyldeghundis
Katerina
Katherin
Lucie
Lydeka
Margreta
Margrete

1400-1499
Adhelheydt
Ane
Anna
Anne
Annæ
Barbara
Berta
Cathrine
Catrine
Cecilia
Cecilliæ
Christina
Cice
Ciscell
Cristin
Cristina
Dorothe
Elene
Elenæ
Elina
Elinæ
Ellene
Ellsebe
Elne
Elnæ
Else
Elsebe
Elseby
Elseff
Elyzabet
Elze
Elzebe
Grete
Grethe
Hillæ
Ingerdh
Ingæburgh
Jngerd
Jnggierd
Karene
Karin
Karine
Karinæ
Katerina
Katerine
Katerinæ
Katherina
Katherinæ
Kathrine
Kattryn
Kay
Kerstine
Kiersten
Kirstene
Kirstine
Kristina
Margarete
Margrete
Marine
Marinæ
Rigiße
Silæ
Sisæ
Yngerd
Ælne

1500-1599
Anna
Anne
Appolonia
Beathe
Berythæ
Birgitte
Catharina
Cicell
Elnæ
Hillæ
Karen
Karinne
Karinæ
Katherina
Katrine
Kirstinæ
Lizebæth
Margarete
Marin
Marine
Marinæ
Mergretke
Sophia

1600 and after
Christina
Margrete
Maria