Contents

Introduction

Historical Background on Nordic Names

List of Real Old Norse Names that are Unused in Any Games

Names of Minor Characters that You Could Steal with Nobody Noticing

Sources

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to give anyone seeking to name their Nord original characters lists of names to choose from, and some guiding principles for creating their own names.

Since no Elder Scrolls games support special characters or accents, all names have been anglicized for ease of use (so, thorns have been replaced with “th,” and eths with “d”). If you’re interested, I highly recommend doing research on any names that you’ve chosen, and including accents when you use them outside of the games.

Historical Background on Nordic Names

There are a handful of real Viking naming conventions that we can take inspiration from when naming our Nord characters. Given names were made up of one or more elements: Bjorn (“bear”) is an element, and stands as a name on its own, but is also one of two elements that make up the name Bjornstein (“bear rock”). It seems like knowing this, one could make two lists of name elements - one for the first element, and one for the second - and randomly generate names at will, but only certain combinations appear in the historical records. When you’re making up names for a fantasy world, that level of historical accuracy doesn’t really matter, but it’s something to be aware of; all of the names in the following lists are well-documented real names, but one could certainly mix-and-match the elements to create an original name that is wholly unique. I would recommend paying attention to which elements are exclusively masculine or feminine, and which appear at the beginnings or ends of names, and working within those restrictions.

Children were commonly named after direct ancestors, because it was believed that the child would inherit the virtues of their namesake. If a relative died while a child was in utero, then they were always named after that relative. The Vikings were big into ancestor veneration. Sometimes, new names were formed by adding or changing an element of the name to make it unique in the family, for example, Bjorn naming his son Bjornstein; this principle is called variation. The name being inherited was much more important than the name accurately describing the child; it doesn’t matter if Ljotr (“ugly”) is ugly or not, because he was named after a deceased family member.

Between the Viking Age and the 19th century, Scandinavian surnames were patronymic, meaning that one’s surname was derived from the given name of their father: if your father’s name was Magnus Olafson, your surname would be Magnuson or Magnusdotter (or Magnusen or Magnusdottir or Magnusdatter, depending on your country and language). We see this reflected in the Nordic surnames of Arena and Daggerfall, which all end in -sen regardless of gender. This naming convention disappears entirely after Daggerfall.

If you want to create an Old Norse patronymic, there are several rules you must follow for it to be grammatically correct; instead of including them all here, I will direct you to the article Old Norse Names from the Viking Answer Lady, which includes several tables dedicated to these grammatical rules.

All Nordic surnames from Morrowind on are bynames. For the vikings, bynames were nicknames given to a person by their friends or enemies, and were often derogatory. In the Elder Scrolls, they’re simply the second part of a Nord’s name, and can reference one’s occupation (“the Smith”), place of origin (“the Easterner”), a physical attribute (“the Fair”), a social tendency (“Doom-Sayer”), or a particular event in one’s life (“Horse-Crusher”). Bynames are not inherited, must be given to one by others, and should describe one in some way, even if it’s more about the vibes than anything observable (“Secret-Fire,” “Star-Sung”).

In Skyrim, some prominent families have clan names, which appear to be the byname of an ancestor that was taken on as an inherited surname. These include Black-Briar, Grey-Mane, and Battle-Born.

List of Real Old Norse Names that are Unused in Any Games

All of these names are taken from Old Norse Names from Behind the Name. The purpose of this list is to be a resource for names with a historical basis that don’t appear in any Elder Scrolls games, and are therefore fair game when naming characters. Names that were very close to a name that appears in a game are not included. All of these names have pages on Behind the Name that have their pronunciation, etymology, and meaning, so I recommend searching for them before deciding on one.

Male First Names

A-G: Aghi, Agmundr, Agnarr, Aki, Aleifr, Alfarr, Alfvin, Algautr, Arfinnr, Arni, Arnorr, Arnthorr, Arnvidr, Asketill, Asmundr, Asvaldr, Adalsteinn, Audr, Baggi, Bardr, Birgir, Bjarni, Bjartr, Brodir, Brynjarr, Bui, Dagfinnr, Dagr, Danr, Egill, Eileifr, Eindridi, Erlingr, Eysteinn, Eyvindr, Felagi, Finnr, Flaemingr, Folki, Fridthjofr, Frodi, Gauti, Gautstafr, Geirr, Gulbrandr, Gunni, Gunnvaldr, Gudbrandr, Gudfridr, Gudini, Gudleifr, Gudmundr, Gudrodr

H-R: Halfdan, Hallbjorn, Halli, Hallr, Hallsteinn, Hallthorr, Hallvardr, Haraldr, Havardr, Hemingr, Herleifr, Hildingr, Hjalmarr, Holmgeirr, Hrafn, Hreidarr, Hroaldr, Hroerekr, Hrolfr, Hrodgeirr, Hrodolfr, Hrodvaldr, Hugleikr, Ingi, Ingimarr, Ingolfr, Ivarr, Josteinn, Kalfr, Ketill, Knutr, Leif, Magni, Mundi, Njall, Oddbjorn, Oddr, Oddvarr, Olvir, Ragnvaldr, Randulfr, Radulfr, Runi

S-Z: Sigfrodr, Sigmundr, Sigsteinn, Sindri, Somerled, Stali, Steinarr, Steingrimr, Steinn, Stigandr, Sumarlidi, Sundri, Suni, Svantepolk, Sverrir, Thorarinn, Thorfastr, Thorfinnr, Thorfreddr, Thorgeirr, Thorgisl, Thorgnyr, Thorir, Thorketill, Thorleifr, Thorleikr, Thormodr, Thorsteinn, Thorvaldr, Throndr, Tofi, Toki, Tryggvi, Uni, Valthjor, Vegardr, Vetrlidi, Vigi, Vikingr, Vragi

Female First Names

A-G: Alfhildr, Arnbjorg, Asa, Asdis, Ashildr, Aslaug, Astridr, Audr, Audrhildr, Bjorg, Borghildr, Bothildr, Brynja, Dagmar, Edda, Grimhildr, Gulla, Gunna, Gunnbjorg, Gunnhildr, Gunnvor, Gudlaug, Gudleif, Gudridr, Gudrun

H-R: Hallthora, Hildr, Hlif, Hrafnhildr, Hreidunn, Ingibjorg, Ingigerdr, Ingvildr, Idunn, Jorunnr, Ketilridr, Magnhildr, Myrgjol, Olaug, Ragnbjorg, Ragnfridr, Ragnheidr, Ragnhildr

S-Z: Saldis, Sigridr, Sigrun, Solveig, Steinunn, Thone, Thore, Thorbjorg, Thordis, Thorfridr, Thorhildr, Thorny, Thorunn, Thorveig, Thorvi, Thrudr, Thyri, Unnr, Valdis, Yngvildr

Unisex First Names

Audr, Heidr, Mar, Udr

Minor Character Names You Could Steal without Anyone Noticing

Subject to be updated.

NPCs who live in Helgen, who are killed in the prologue, and whose names you only know if you turn on the subtitles:

Gunnar, Ingrid, Matlara, Torolf

Sources