Gothic Names

Gothic is the only East Germanic language which has survived in any substantial way thanks to Wulfila's translation of the Bible.  Vandalic, Burgundian, Gepidic and Skirian are likely to have been substantially like Gothic however, and any of the names or elements listed below for be suitable for use by a member of the Amaligg, Balthigg, Turcligg, Siling or Hasding families.

Gothic Forms

The forms of Gothic names found in works of history are generally based on those found in the Greek and Latin sources.  By comparing these forms to the known Gothic vocabulary and to other Germanic names, however, it is possible to reconstruct something like their original Gothic forms.

Thus historians talk of Theodoric the Great, Odovacar, Alaric or Uraias but the Goths would have said 'Thiudareiks', 'Audawakrs'. 'Alhareiks' and 'Wraihja'. Many Gothic names, like early Germanic names generally, are made of two "nymic elements" being combined - these tables give a list of some of the more common Gothic nymic elements, with their Modern and Old English equivalents.

It is possible to create a Gothic name by combining two of these traditional elements - Gaisumunths = 'spear-protector', or Harjareiks = 'army ruler'.  Many of these duonymic names had 'meanings' which were nonsensical or even contradictory, such as Frithugais (peace spear) or Frithubadws (peace war).  It seems that 'Frithu-' was simply a traditional element for the beginning of a name and '-gais' was simply a traditional element for the ending of a name and the 'meaning' of the two elements in combination simply did not matter.

Eventually the names themselves would have become traditional and no-one would have thought of their meanings any more than modern people think about the Latin, Greek or Hebrew meanings of many of their names.

Some Gothic names seem to be contractions or abbreviations of longer, more traditional forms.  'Gaina' may be a contraction of 'Gaisananths' for example.  Similarly, 'Wamba' may be a contraction of 'Wandilbairhts', or it may mean 'belly' (as in the English 'womb') and be a nickname for a fat man or a man with a large appetite.

Other Gothic names were diminutives, created by the addition of the suffixes '-ila' or '-ika'.  'Attila' (Little Father - 'atta'+'-ila') is one of the more famous of these names, as is 'Wulfila' (Little Wolf) the original Gothic form of the name of the apostle to the Goths, Ulphilas.

Finally, shorter Gothic names were also common and these were formed by adding the final elements '-a' or '-ja' to the initial nymic elements listed above or to other Gothic words.  So Uraias' real name may have been 'Wraihja' from the vern 'wreihan' - to protect, while Leuva could have been 'Liuba' from the noun 'liufs' - dear one.

Latinised Forms

As mentioned above, most Gothic names survive in Greek and Roman documents and come down to us in Latinised forms.  If you prefer to have a more "familiar" looking Gothic name, you could choose to use these forms, which may be less authentic, but will look less "foreign" than the original Gothic forms used above.  The names in the list below can be found in "Kate Monk's Onomastikon".