Chapter VII Goderic and Godiva
“England had now once more (A.D. 1100) a King born on her own soil, a Queen of the blood of the hero Eadmund, a King and Queen whose children would trace to AElfred by two descents. Norman insolence mocked at the English King and his English Lady under the English names of Godric and Godgifu.” 1
(FREEMAN, Norman Conquest, v. 170.)
In dealing with surnames we begin after the Conquest, for the simple reason that there were no surnames before. Occasionally an important person has come down in history with a nickname, e.g. Edmund Iron-side, Harold Harefoot, Edward the Confessor; but this is exceptional, and the Anglo-Saxon, as a rule, was satisfied with one name. It is probable that very many of the names in use before the Conquest, whether of English or Scandinavian origin, were chosen because of their etymological meaning, e.g. that the name Beornheard (Bernard, Barnard, Barnett) was given to a boy in the hope that he would grow up a warrior strong, just as his sister might be called AEthelgifu, noble gift. The formation of these old names is both interesting and, like all Germanic nomenclature, poetic.
Notes
1 “Godricum eum, et comparem Godgivam appellantes” (William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum).