List of Latinised names

The Latinisation of names in the vernacular was a procedure deemed necessary for the sake of conformity by scribes and authors when incorporating references to such persons in Latin texts.

The Anglo-Norman scribes on the other hand were not so learned, and often simply translated the vernacular name into Latin words based on similar sounds, without much effort to make sense or to avoid absurdity, which produced some strange results due to the complexity.

[10] Further reasons for assuming such internationally recognisable names, especially in Scandinavia, included leaving agrarian conditions behind and embracing an urban and cosmopolitan way of life.

The latter refers to the mediaeval Anglo-Norman family of Orescuilz, which held amongst others the Somersetshire manor of Sandford Orcas (named after it),[16] whose surname was Latinised as de Aureis Testiculis,[17][18] from French "Couilles[19] d'Or".

A list of "Latin forms of English surnames" is included as an appendix in Andrew Wright's Court Hand Restored, or the Student's Assistant in reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records, etc.,[20] published in 9 editions up to 1879.

[23] In the preface, p. xi, Martin stated of that chapter: "Many of the [place names and] surnames have been found in classes of records which contain documents in both languages referring to the same case, like the Chancery Proceedings, in which bills and answers are in English and writs in Latin."

He went on to say that the list includes many names collected from Latin inscriptions on brasses, tombstones, and other monuments, many of them dating to the sixteenth century and later, and said that he had supplied the English equivalents of these from other sources of information.