My Dive into Medieval King Names
Ever wonder about those names of medieval kings? You know, the ones that sound all grand and imposing when you hear 'em in movies or read 'em in books. I always pictured this huge, diverse list of really unique, powerful-sounding names. Well, I had a reason to go looking for some of these names recently, and let me tell you, what I found wasn't quite what I'd drummed up in my head.
See, I was working on a little something, a personal project, and I needed a name with some real weight to it. Something that just screamed "authority" and "history." My first thought? Medieval kings, of course! Seemed like a no-brainer. I figured I'd tap into a rich vein of incredible, perhaps even forgotten, names.
So, I got myself comfy, opened up the old internet machine, and started my quest. My game plan was simple: find a list, pick the coolest ones. Easy, right? Well, not so fast. The first few searches brought up plenty of results, lists of kings from England, France, all over Europe.
And that's when the pattern started to emerge. Or rather, the lack of a varied pattern. I started seeing the same names. Over. And over. And over again.
- William. Man, oh man. So many Williams. You had your Conqueror, sure, but then a bunch of other Williams after him, and not just in England. It felt like every third king was a William.
- Then there was Henry. Another heavyweight contender in the repetition game. English Henrys, French Henrys... if you threw a rock in a medieval court, you'd probably hit a Henry.
- Louis was big too, especially if you hopped over the Channel to France. Felt like they had a royal decree: "All kings shall henceforth be named Louis, unless we're feeling adventurous, then maybe Charles."
- And yeah, you had your Edwards, Philips, Charleses, Johns. Good, solid, respectable names, don't get me wrong. But the sheer frequency was something else.
Now, it wasn't all a sea of sameness. I did dig up some gems. You'd get an Ethelred – and his famous nickname, "the Unready," which always makes me think, "Dude, what happened there?" Or Cnut the Great, a Viking king ruling England, which is pretty badass. And wandering further afield, you'd find your Alfonsos in Spain, or a Bolesław in Poland, names with a different ring to them. Those were the moments I was like, "Okay, this is more like it!"
But honestly, the biggest takeaway for me was how conservative they were with names for the top job. It hit me that maybe it wasn't about being unique back then. It was probably more about tradition, honoring your dad or granddad, or a particularly important saint. Sticking with the tried and true. Not like today, where everyone's trying to find a name no one else has for their kid or their startup.
It’s funny, because pop culture often paints this incredibly diverse tapestry of medieval names. But when you go to the source, at least for the crowned heads of major kingdoms, the actual playlist of names was surprisingly short. It kind of made me chuckle. My grand hunt for an ultra-rare, mind-blowing kingly name ended up being more of an education in, well, the popularity of William.
So, the project? It got a name. Maybe not as exotic as I first imagined, but hey, at least I know a lot more about who was not named something wildly different in medieval Europe. It was a bit like going to a fancy restaurant expecting some fusion cuisine and getting really, really good roast chicken. Still satisfying, just in a way I didn't expect.
