Faire Names for English Folk: Late Sixteenth Century English Names, by Christian de Holacombe

An excellent primer on late-period English names, including lists of common men's and women's given names, a list of more than 1000 surnames, and discussion of patterns of name construction. This is a great place to start!

Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames, by Talan Gwynek

This dictionary, by P. H. Reaney, contains thousands of dated examples of full names. Master Talan has collected all the period feminine names cited in this work, which range from the Conquest to the end of our period. This excellent piece of scholarship was previously published in the proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium in 1994. The names are presented here indexed by period: before 1250, 1250 to 1450, and after 1450.

"Misplaced" Names in Reaney & Wilson, by Jeanne Marie Lacroix

A list of some medieval bynames in Reaney & Wilson's Dictionary of English Surnames. Mostly 13th and 14th century, but some earlier and later.

Surnames in Durham and Northumberland, 1521-1615, by Julie Stampnitzky

Over 5000 surnames recorded in Durham and Northumberland between 1521 and 1615.

English Names from Pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions, by Julian Goodwyn

An analysis of names collected from a survey of English funerary brasses. The data range from the 12th to the 16th century, but are predominantly 15th and 16th century. The article offers alphabetical lists of masculine and feminine given names with frequency counts; I have added lists sorted by frequency, masculine and feminine, using data from the lady's original KWHS article. We've noticed some errors in the article, so it's worth checking the original data in the Monumental Brass index of the Ashmolean Library. Julian included a link to the appropriate section of that website with each citation in her article; unfortunately, the Ashmolean has reorganized the website. The data can be found, organized by county, under the 'catalogue' link.

Ship Names from 1480-01, by Maridonna Benvenuti

Names of ships recorded in English customs documents.

Given names of women entered in the Guild of the Holy Cross, Our Lady, and St. John the Baptist, Stratford-On-Avon, 1490-1534, by Douglas Galbi

Part of Galbi's collection of lists of Given Names in England Before 1800, the names on these pages were collected from J. Harvey Bloom, ed. (1907), The Register of the Gild of the Holy Cross, the Blessed Mary and St. John the Baptist (London: Phillimore & Co.). The database gives the date of record in the first column, the actual spelling of the name in the fourth, and a standard modern spelling in the last column. The first few hundred names are from the first half of the 15th century; the rest are late 15th-early 16th century.

An Index to the 1523 Subsidy Roll for York and Ainsty, England, by Karen Larsdatter

Lists of masculine & feminine given names and surnames.

Names in Chesham, 1538-1600/1, by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan

A list of men's and women's given names and surnames collected from the parish registers of Chesham.

Women's names from Warwick, 1538-1603, by Douglas Galbi

Part of Galbi's collection of lists of Given Names in England Before 1800, the names on these pages were collected from Richard Savage, The register of Solihull, Co. Warwick (Exeter: Parish Register Society, 1904) and The registers of Stratford-on Avon, in the county of Warwick (London: Parish Register Society, 1905). The place where each name was recorded is given in the first column, the year in the third, the original spelling of the name in the fourth, and a standard modern spelling in the last column.

Naming Practices in 16th Century Gloucestershire, by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan

A survey of names and naming practices illustrated in Gloucester parish registers, mostly from the second half of the 16th century. This article analyzes the data presented in the following articles:

Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock (Gloucestershire, England: 1538-1600/1), by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan

The source lists several thousand names. The article currently offers lists of men's and women's given names. The surname data is a work in progress.

Late 16th Century Gloucestershire Names, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

Lists of masculine and feminine given names and of surnames, taken from marriage registers.

Name Distribution in King's Stanley Marriages: 1573-1600, by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan

Lists of men's and women's given names and of surnames from 250 names taken from a village marriage register.

Index of Names in the 1541 Subsidy Roll of London, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

Names of English people and foreigners living in London.

Index of Names in the 1582 Subsidy Roll of London, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

Names of English men and women and foreigners.

Dictionary of Tudor London Names, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

An extended analysis of the same data as the previous two articles, with complementary data from the 1576 subsidy roll. Does not currently contain a discussion of the names of foreigners.

Names found in the Berkeley Hundred Court Rolls, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

A list of 79 men and one woman mentioned in this 1543 document.

16th Century Names from Ormskirk Parish Registers, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

A work in progress, currently offering lists of masculine and feminine given names from this Lancastershire parish.

Names found in Maisemore, Glouchestershire Registers 1538-1600, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

Another collection of names from parish registers.

Biographical Index to the Elizabethan Theater, by David J Kathman

A draft list of people involved in English theater between 1558 and 1642. Alternate spellings of names are given and all entries are carefully referenced. This is a pretty good source for names, particularly since it includes a large selection of dated surnames.

Names Found in West Stow, West Suffolk Parish Registers 1558-1650, by Mari ingen Briain meic Donnchada.

An analysis of 1360 names.

Names found in Frocester, Glouchestershire Marriage Registers 1559-1600, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

Lists of masculine and feminine given names and of surnames, taken from marriage registers.

Names found in Rangeworthy Bishops, Glouchestershire, Registers 1575-1600, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

Lists of masculine and feminine given names.

Names of Members of the Frobisher Voyages, 1576-1578, by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan

An analysis of 583 names of men who participated in these explorations of the New World. It includes lists of given names and surnames.

Alehouses in Derbyshire, 1577, transcribed by Eric Youle (Wayback Machine link)

The text of a survey of alehouses with the names of alehouse keepers.

A list of people fined for not wearing caps to church in Sheffield, 1577, transcribed by Eric Youle (Wayback Machine link)

The text of a period record, with mostly masculine names.

Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names, by Talan Gwynek

An analysis of 6645 names appearing in court records from 1581 to 1595.

Elizabethan Names, by Gary Kephart

Lists of masculine and feminine given names from a church register. I have asked the author to tell me his source; I will post the details when I get them. However, the list appears to be reliable.

London Masters of Defense, by Dylan ap Maelgwn (Wayback Machine link)

Although not intended primarily as a study of names, this article contains several dozen masculine names from London in the second half of the 16th century, in their original spellings.

Lay Subsidy Returns for London, Middlesex, Surrey (north) 1593-1600, by Alan H. Nelson

Names from late sixteenth-century tax records. Indexed by original spelling of surname, or normalized spelling of surname. Given names have all been normalized.

Names of Soldiers from Kent, 1595, by Brian Scott

An analysis of the soldiers' names in Soldiers in Kent: The Trained Band under Captain Kempe in 1595, transcribed by Peter Stuart

Links to 16th century parish registers, provided by Julie Stampnitzky

GEN UKI, a UK and Ireland genealogy site, hosts a collection of parish registers. Julie has created links to the ones that start in the 16th century; most of them run to the 18th or 19th century. If you focus on the early entries, these are good sources for late-period names, especially surnames.

English Given Names from 16th and Early 17th C Marriage Records, by Aryanhwy merch Catmael

A catalogue of the given names found in the GEN UKI parish registers cited above.

Given names from Parish Marriage Registers of Northumberland and Durham, 1530-1830, by Douglas Galbi

A database of given names from some of the parish registers listed in the previous article; part of Galbi's collection of lists of Given Names in England Before 1800. The second column is a code identifying the place where the name was recorded, the third the date of the marriage, the fourth the original spelling of the given name, and the fifth a standard modern spelling of that name. The last column gives the sex (1 = female, 2 = male).

The Medieval Names Archive is published by Ursula Georges. It was historically published by the Academy of Saint Gabriel.
Copyright on individual articles belongs to their authors.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/eng1450to1600.shtml