Alright folks, I gotta tell you about this rabbit hole I fell into yesterday. See, my buddy mentioned needing cool names for a game he’s making, some medieval knight thing. I figured, how hard could it be to find a list of knight names, right? Famous dudes with swords, armor, all that. So I grabbed my coffee, fired up the computer, and started digging.
The Initial Mess Around
First stop, just typed in “knight names” into the search box. Easy peasy, loads of results pop up. I clicked a few links. Weirdly, a bunch were baby name sites! Like, lists for naming your kid after some long-dead warrior. Not really hitting the mark for Sir Stabs-a-Lot in a video game. Bit of a facepalm moment.
Then I got smarter. Changed it to “medieval knight names historical”. That looked better. Found some sites listing actual knights from way back when. Trouble was, half the names were just… impossible. Long strings of consonants, names starting with ‘Ys’, stuff no modern tongue could handle or remember. Imagine yelling “Hey, Sir Ysgoll ap Rhys, charge!” in the middle of a battle? Nah.
- Problem: Found names, but mostly unusable ancient ones.
- Problem: Lists included every nobleman, not just warrior types.
- Problem: Zero context about the names, just a boring list.
Getting Picky & Finding Gems
Okay, time to refine. Needed names that actually sounded knightly, weren’t ridiculous, maybe even meant something cool. I started searching things like “best knight names fantasy” and “popular medieval warrior names“. This was better.
Stumbled across forums and sites actually explaining the meanings. That was gold! Suddenly a name like “Aldous” wasn’t just old, it meant “wise” or “old”. “Roland” pops up everywhere – famous knight, means “famous land”. Way more usable. I opened a simple text file and started typing out the good ones I found.
Found out lots of names used common endings like -ard, -bert, -ric. Made sense, like a theme. Started grouping them mentally. Some had roots like “Ger” meaning spear, “Bern” meaning bear. Stuff you could build a character around.
Building My Own List
After bouncing around, clicking here and there, copying and pasting bits, I finally had a messy pile of names. Time to organize. I ditched anything too clunky or overly familiar (“Arthur” felt too overdone). Wanted a mix:
- Short & punchy names: Leoric, Gavin, Torben
- Names meaning warrior stuff: Bernard (Brave Bear), Gerard (Spear Strong)
- Just cool sounds: Valerius, Aldric, Godfrey
Kept digging for meanings and background on each one I liked. Made a separate section in my text file for names with meanings, easier for my buddy to pick.
The Final Showdown (With the List)
Coffee was cold, screen time was long, but I finally had it – a decent list. Not just historical sludge, not baby fluff, but names that sounded like they belonged to guys who rode horses and swung swords. Felt pretty chuffed.
Sent the list over to my buddy. He digs it! Says he especially liked the names with meanings, helps him match the name to the knight’s personality in the game. Win! Mission accomplished.
Honestly, the hardest part wasn’t finding names, it was sifting through mountains of junk. Feels like the actual info about what the names meant or felt like got buried centuries ago. But hey, pulled it off. Another day, another list conquered!
