Traditional baby names are increasingly popular, with many modern parents keen to resurrect or pay tribute to popular names of the past.
While the idea isn't appealing to everyone, by choosing a traditional baby name, parents are uniting their child to a long line of namesakes, sometimes stretching as far back as ancient times.
Traditional names come from many sources, but they all have one thing in common - they have been in use in the English-speaking world for hundreds of years. The first generation of names that we would recognise as modern English came about after the Norman conquest. Prior to this, most names were Germanic in origin (think Ethelred and Wulfric) and many have disappeared, although a few are still in use today.
These Norman-influenced names came to dominate in the years after the Conquest, and many remain in use to this day. So if you want a name with a great historical pedigree? why not consider one that has been recorded in the UK for almost a millennium? It doesn't get much more traditional than that!
Here are some of our favourite picks from the most popular medieval baby names:
Adam
Nicholas
Simon
Peter
Walter
Richard
Hugh
Robert
Geoffrey
Of course, if you want to go even further back, there's always the option of choosing a Biblical name. Some Biblical names (Mary, Thomas, Daniel or John, for instance) have been well-known favourites for countless generations, while others are just as long-standing but far less common.
If you fancy a Biblical name which has been in use for centuries but won't leave your child just one of many in the classroom, consider these:
Paul
David
Philip
Jude
Seth
Elijah
Nathan
Gideon
Eli
Abraham
Silas
Barnabas
For many people, however, 'traditional' English names conjure up images of Victorian England, and the prim and proper ladies and gentlemen that you might encounter there.
If you want to evoke the grandeur and decorum of the 19th century, take your inspiration from these quintessentially Victorian boys names:
Henry
Frederick
Albert
Alfred
Reginald
Ernest
Frank
Percy
Edwin
Sidney
Francis
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