A Growing List of Preppy Names

~A~
Addis
Addison
Ames
Amory
Anson
Appleton
Archer
Arent
Armistead
Armstrong
Astor
Aubrey
Averell
Avery

~B~
Bancroft
Barbour
Barclay
Barnes
Barnhill
Bayard
Beasley
Beaumont
Beekman
Bellamy
Belmont
Blackwell
Blair(e)
Blake
Blevins
Bostwick
Bouviers
Bowditch
Bowers
Bowman
Boyce
Burns
Bradford
Bragdon
Brayton
Breese
Brent
Brenton
Bret(t)
Brewer
Brewster
Brigham
Brighton
Brockholst
Bronson
Brooks
Bryant
Bryce
Buchanan
Buckland
Burdett
Burgess

~C~
Cabot
Cady
Cadwallader
Calbraith
Cameron
Campbell
Carlton
Carnegie
Carter
Cary
Chandler
Channing
Chapin
Chapman
Chardon
Chatham
Chauncey
Clark
Clarkson
Claypoole
Clayton
Cleveland
Clinton
Codman
Colden
Coleman
Colgate
Comstock
Coolidge
Copeland
Copley
Cord
Cortlandt
Cotton
Courtlandt
Cox
Crawford
Crosby
Crowninshield
Cullen
Cushing
Cutler

~D~
Dabney
Dagmore
Daingerfield
Danford
Davenport
Davis
Dayton
DeForest
Delafield
Delancey
Delano
DeWitt
DeWolf
Dexter
Doane
Dodge
Dows
Drayton
Dresser
Drexel
Dudley
DuPont
Dwight

~E~
Eastman
Eaton
Eber
Egerton
Elbridge
Ellery
Elliot
Emerson
Emery
Emmett
Endicott
Epes

~F~
Ferguson
Field
Fielding
Fish
Fitch
Fitz
Fitzwilliam
Fletcher
Floyd
Forbes
Force
Ford
Forrester
Forster
Franklin
Frazier
Freeman
French
Fulton

~G~
Gardiner
Gardner
Gibson
Gifford
Grafton
Graham
Grant
Grantland
Granville
Greene
Grenville
Grigsby
Griswold
Grovenor

~H~
Haines
Hall
Hallenbeck
Halliburton
Hamilton
Harding
Harriman
Harrison
Hart
Hartley
Hasbrouck
Havemeyer
Hay
Hayes
Hazard
Hill
Holbrook
Hollis
Howland
Hoyt
Humphrey
Hunt
Hunter
Hurlbut
Hyatt

~I~
Insley

~J~
Jackson
Jefferson
Jennings

~K~
Keaton
Kent
Kenyon
Kingsford
Kingsley
Kirkland
Knyvet

~L~
Laidlaw
Landon
Lane
Langdon
Langhorne
Lammot
Latham
Lawrenson
LeBaron
Leighton
Leland
Ledyard
Leroy
Lester
Leverett
Livingston
Lloyd
Lodge
Longsworth
Lorillard
Lovering
Ludlow
Lyman
Lyon

~M~
Madison
Marshall
Mason
Melville
Merrill
Merritt
Mills
Montgomery
Morgan
Morris
Murray

~N~
Nelson
Norton

~O~
Oakes
Oakley
Ogden
Orme
Ormond
Osborne
Otis

~P~
Paine
Patton
Payne
Peabody
Pendleton
Perry
Peyton
Phelps
Phipps
Pierce
Pierpont
Pierson
Pinchot
Pomeroy
Preble
Preston
Prichard
Pulitzer
Putnam

~Q~
Quentin
Quincy
Quinn

~R~
Ransom
Reeves
Reid
Remington
Rensselaer
Rhinelander
Rittenhouse
Rodman
Roosevelt
Roswell
Russell
Rutgers
Rutherford
Rutsen
Ryland

~S~
Sargent
Schuyler
Scribner
Searle
Sears
Seton
Sewall
Shepard
Shepherd
Sherman
Shipman
Sinclair
Singleton
Skidmore
Slater
Sloan(e)
Smith
Spence
Spencer
Sprague
Standish
Stanton
Stanwix
Steele
Stewart
Stirling
Stokes
Stuart
Sturgis
Stuyvesant
Sullivan
Sumner

~T~
Taggart
Talbot
Talmadge
Taylor
Tazewell
Teller
Temple
Tenley
Thackary
Thakrey
Thatcher
Thayer
Thorn
Thornwell
Thruston
Thurlow
Thurston
Tilden
Tinsley
Todd
Todhunter
Tower
Townsend
Tracy
Tripler
Tuck
Tucker
Tuckerman
Turner
Tweed
Tyler
Tyndal

~U~
Upton

~V~
Vanderbilt
VanDyke
Vanleer
Van Rensselaer

~W~
Wade
Walbridge
Walden
Waldorf
Waldron
Walker
Warren
Washington
Watson
Waverley
Weatherley
Webb
Webster
Welles
Wells
West
Westcott
Weston
Wharton
Wheaton
Wheeler
White
Whitelaw
Whitney
Whitmire
Whittier
Wilder
Willard
Willoughby
Wilton
Winchester
Winfield
Winslow
Winthrop
Witherbee
Wolcott
Woodrow
Woods
Worthington
Wyclef

~X~

~Y~
Yale
Yates
Yeats

~Z~

Create An Anglo-Saxon Name

Anglo-Saxons, among other ethnic groups, such as the Greeks, were notorious for their naming patterns, specifically the use of elements. Elements are the parts that make up a name, essentially. For instance, Edward is composed of two elements ed meaning “riches” and ward meaning “guardian”, rendering rich guard. Dithematic given names are names composed of two elements, which was common in Anglo-Saxon England.

In the Anglo-Saxon royal families, a king and a queen might have five or so children. Both the king and queen have dithematic names, so that is four elements between the two of them (if there is no overlap). So, how the family might name their children is combine their elements in different ways or use one element, like ecg, and maybe add a unique element to their little pool of elements. This produced hundreds of variations, and I'm guessing (from the amount of research I did) that at least one person per name bore a different combination of these elements.

I've compiled all the Anglo-Saxon elements used with names back then, and then taking the liberty of adding more Old English words, using online Old English dictionaries (here and here). Have fun, and if you make a combination you love, congrats! You're a real Tolkien! Comment to share your spectacular creation!

[Side note: G = Germanic, ON = Old Norse, OE = Old English, OS = Old Saxon.]

Element	Origin	Meaning	Variants	Examples	Notes
amal	G	labor, work	ame, em, emme, milli	Millicent	used more in Germany
angil	G	Angle	engel, engil, ing	Engelbert
arn	ON	eagle		Arnold
ass	ON	god	as	Aswig
atta	G	father	ath	Athulf
beadu	OE	battle	bad, bab, bead	Beaduburh
beald	OE	bold	bal, ball, bald	Baldwin
beofor	OE	beaver	bever	Beverley
beorht	OE	bright	berht, bert, berth, brict	Bertram, Robert
beorn	OE	bear	ben, bern, born, borne, bourne, burn	Beornwulf, Osborn
bliþ	OE	gentle, happy	beth, bleth, blith, blithe, blythe	Bliththryth
blæc	OE	black, dark		Blæcmann	rare
brego	OE	prince, lord, ruler	brege, bregu	Bregoswith
bræmel	OE	bramble	brembel, bremel	Brembel
brær	OE	briar, bramble	brer, brere, briar, brier
burg	G	fortress	borough, borow, burga, burh, burk	Cwenburg, Kynborow	used almost exclusively for women
celde	OE	spring	celda, kelda	Alkelda
cene	OE	bold, kene	cen, coen, ken	Kenelm
ceol	OE	keep (of a ship)	cel, chele, ciol	Ceolwyn
cuþ	OE	famous, known	cod, coth	Cuthbert
cwen	OE	woman, wife	queen, quen, quene	Cwenthryth, Leofcwen	only found in women’s names
cyn	OE	kin	cyn
cyne	OE	royal	chene, ken, kim, kyn, kyne	Cynehild
dæg	OE	day	daei, dag, dai, daia, day	Daisy, Leofdæg	less common name element
dene	OE	Dane	dan, den	Haldane
deor	OE	dear	dar	Darwin, Deorswith
dun	OE	dark	dunne	Dunstan
ead	OE	wealth, riches, fortune	ad, ed, id, æd	Edward, Edith	very common name element
eage	OE	eye	eye, y	Daisy	never used in Anglo-Saxon England
ealh	OE	temple	al, el, æl	Ealhmund
eard	OE	land	ad, ard	Eardwulf	not particularly common element
ecg	OE	edge (of a sword)	age, edg, eg	Ecgburg
eald	OE		æld	Ealdgyth
eoh	OE	horse	eo
eorcen	OE	genuine		Eorcengota
eoster	OE	Easter	easter, ælstr	Eosterwine	related to Germanic goddess Eostre?
fearn	OE	fern	farn, fearn, fern	Fern	modern invention
flæd	OE	beauty	fled, flede, fleda, flet, flethe	Heanflæd	mostly used for women
fela	OE	much, a lot	fele, felu, feolo	Feleburg	extremely rare
Frige	OE	Frige, Germanic goddess	fri, frig, frigg	Friday	cognate of ON Frigg
friÞ	OE	peace	fred, frey, fride, frith, fritha	Ceolfrith	popular name element
fugol	OE	bird, fowl	fugl, fugul, fvgel, fvgl, fvhl, vugel	Sæfugol, Winterfugol	uncommon
fulc	OE	people, folk, nation, tribe	folc, folk, ful	Fulbert	uncommon but not rare
fus	OE	eager, brave, noble	fus	Cenfus	probable meaning
gar	OE	spear	car, gari	Edgar, Oscar
geat	OE	gate
god	OE	god	god, gode, good	Godfrey
giedd	OE	story, tale, song, poem	giedda	Giedda	single element use
giefu	OE	gift	eva, gife, gifu, giva, gyfa, gyfe, ieue, ive	Godiva
glæd	OE	bright	glæd, glad	Gladwin
gold	OE	gold		Goldstan, Goldwine	uncommon, rare
grim	OE	fierce, severe
cene	OE	bold, kene	cen, cene, coen, ken	Kenrick
grœni	span style=“font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif”>OE	green	green, gren		no names used this element during the time period
gyð	OE	battle	ith, ytha, ythe	Edith
hadu	G	battle, combat	ed, hade, hed	Hedwig
haga	OE	enclosure	hag
halig	OE	holy	al
heafoc	OE	hawk	hafoc	Westorualcna	uncommon
heah	OE	exalted, high
healf	OE	half	half, hal	Haldane
hean	OE	low, humble, poor
heard	OE	brave, hardy	ard, att, ot	Wyatt
hearp	OE	harp	harp
helm	G	helmet, protection	am, elm, elmi, helm	William
heort	OE	deer, hart, stag	heoro
here	OE	army	er, har, here	Harold, Walter
hild	G	battle	childa, hild, hild, hilda, hilde, hilt, ild, ilda, ildr, ildæ, nelda, nella, nilda	Hildebrand, Matilda
hlud	G	famous, loud	chlod, clot, hludo, lot, lou, lud	Clotilda
hris	OE	brushwood, scrub	ris	Risborough	uncommon
hroð	OE	fame	hroth, rod	Roderick
hros	G	horse	ros, rosa	Rosamund
hrum	G	raven	ram	Bertram, Ingram	Norman import
hun	G	bear cub	hun, hum, in, un	Humbert
hug	G	thought, heart, spirit	hu, huge, hugh, hune, hyge	Hugh	cognate of Old English hyge
hwit	OE	white	wiht, whit
hyge	OE	thought, desire, mind	hoga, hogu, ige, yge	Hygeburg
>hyse	OE	warrior, youth		Godhyse
hæl	OE	heal	al
<hæð	OE	heath	heath
Ing	G	Ing	ing, inge	Ingemar
ketel	OS	kettle, cauldron
kuni	G	clan, family	cuni, kuni
laf	OE	remains, legacy	lafa, lafe, lava	span style=“color: hotpink; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif”>Oslafe
leof	OE	dear, agreeable, beloved	lef, leff, leofu, lev	Leofric	popular for both men and women
linde	G	soft, tender	lind, linda, linde, line	Rosalind
lufu	OE	love	love, luf	Loveday
maht	G	might, strength	maht, mat, macht	Matilda
man	G	man	mann, manni	Blæcmann	uncommon but not rare, usage exclusive to men
mær	OE	famous	mer	Kimberley
milde	OE	gentle, mild	mild, mil	Mildred
mund	G	protection	mond, monde, mund, munda	Raymond	usage more common on the Continent
noð	OE	daring, boldness; plunder	nod, nodi, noth	Notburga
ord	OE	point (of a weapon)	ori	Ordgar
os	OE	god	os	Oscar, Oswald
oxa	OE	ox	ox	Oxford
ragin	G	advice, counsel	ragin, rain, rayn, reyn, ron	Reynald
ric	G	power, rule	ric, rici, rich, rick	Frederick, Richard
run	ON	secret, advice, counsel	run, runa, rune, run	Wulfrun
sæx	OE	dagger, knife, dirk	seax	Seaxburg
sele	OE	great hall, house		Selemann
sidu	OE	habit, practice, custom		Leofsidu	rare
sige	OE	victory	si, sige, sy	Sigeflæd
stan	OE	stone	stani	Dunstan, Stanley	common element for men
sumor	OE	summer	somer, sumer, summer, sumr, svmr	Sumerlida	Sumerlida was a moneyer of Æthelred the Unready
swete	OE	sweet, pure, fragrant, pleasant	swet	Swetmann	common element for men
swiÞ	OE	strength, mighty, severe, violent	suid, svid, swide, swith, switha, swithe, swið, swyde	Frideswide
sunne	OE	sun	sunn, synn	Sunniva
Tiw	OE	Tyr, Germanic god	tig, tir, tue	Tuesday	uncommon
torht	OE	radiant, beautiful	torht	Torhtswith
tid	OE	time, period, season	tidd, tyd	Tidemær
trum	OE	firm, secure, strong, vigorous	trum	Trumwine	Trumwine was a Northumbrian bishop
treow	OE	tree, wood, timber	tre, tree, treo, treue, trew, trow
tun	OE	enclosure, garden, field, yard, village, town	tune	Tuneman
weald	OE	power, ruler, leader	ald, old, wald, walt, weald, wold, woldi	Walter, Oswald	common element for men
weard	OE	guard, guardian	ard, ward, wardi, wart, weard	Edward	common element for men
wer	OE	man	were
west	OE	westwards		Westorualcna	extremely rare
>weÞe	OE	mild, pleasant	weth	Wethburg	uncommon
wif	OE	woman, wife	wife, wive	Godwif	used exclusively for women
wig	OE	war, battle	pge, pig, uui, uuig, wig, wis, wy	Wigburg
wil	OE	will, desire	wil, will, willi	William
wine	OE	friend	uini, vin, win, wine, wini, wyn, wynne	Godwine	popular element
winter	OE	winter	pinter, pintr, wintr	Winterleda	Winterleda was a moneyer of Æthelred the Unready
witu	OE	tree, wood	wid
Woden	OE	Woden, Germanic god	wedne, wodan, wotan	Wednesday	cognate of Norse god Odin
wulf	G	wolf	olf, olph, ul, ulf, ulfi, uul, wulph, wulv	Beornwulf
wynn	<OE	joy, rapture, pleasure	wen, wynn	Mærwynn	used exclusively for women
æðel	OE	noble	al, athel, ayl, el, ethel, ethyl, æil	Ethelinda	popular amongst men and women, mostly used as first element, cognate of German adel
ælf	OE	elf	alf, alv, elf, elv	Alfred	popular amongst men and women
æsc	OE	ash	aesc, asc, ash, ecs, ess, ælsc	Æscwynn	uncommon usage in Anglo-Saxon England
æx	OE	axe
Þegn	OE	thane, servant, soldier, warrior	thain, than, thegn, thein	Thegnwine
Þorr	ON	Thor	thor, thur, thunr, tor	Thurstan	adopted after Viking invasions
Þryð	OE	strength	thryth, dred	Elfreda, Mildred	usage exclusive to women
Þurs	ON	a giant	thurs, thus, thuss, turs, tus, tus	Thusnelda

The East Coast Nomenclature: Preppy Nicknames

What's a preppy name without an equally preppy nickname?

Preps across the East Coast are known for their interesting naming style of lastname-first names, but in reality, most preps only give an influential family member's name as a middle name. Most of your stereotypical preppy parents will name their child a conservative name – Thomas, William, Matthew, and David are good examples for baby boys, and on the pink side of things, Daphne, Sarah, Meredith, and Eleanor. These names are so well-used and loved, that families began to distinguish each member with a beautiful, seemingly unrelated nickname. 

Yes, John was nicknamed Jack, and Margaret was nicknamed Peggy, but preps are notorious for nicknames like Bunny, Skipper, Topsy, etc. So, without further ado, here is a list of preppy nicknames with some plausible full name suggestions for related preppy names if making the jump from Kathleen to Bunny is a bit difficult. (Also, in prepland, nothing is exclusive to males or females.)

Babe / Baby - Barbara, Beatrice, Roberta
Babs - Barbara
Bamie
Bay - Bailey, Bainbridge, Bayard, Baylor
Bif / Biff / Biffy - Balfour, Bancroft, Banfield, Bedford, Beresford, Bickford, Bradford, Buford
Bink / Binky
Birdie - Beatrice, Bridget, Roberta
Bissy - Elizabeth
Bitsy -  Bryan, Elizabeth, Tabitha
Bizzy - Elizabeth
Bonnie - Veronica
Boots / Bootsy
Briggs - Brigham, Brighton
Buck
Bud / Buddy
Buffy
Bumper
Bunny
Buzzie
Cap - Captain, Charles
Cece - Cassandra, Cecilia, Drusilla, Priscilla
Chad - Charles
Champ - Beauchamp
Chasey
Check
Chip - Charles, Christopher
Cookie - Cornelia, Cornelius
Chuck - Charles
Coco - Colleen, Concord, Constance, Consuelo, Cordelia, Corinne, Cornelia, Courtney
Cookie - Cornelia
Cork / Corky - Charles, Cornelius, Cornell
Cricket
Cuffy
Daisy
Dede
Del - Delano
Dibby
Duffy
Easy
Ellie
Espy - Stephanie
Fifi - Daphne, Felicity, Josephine, Ophelia, Seraphina, Sophia
Finn
Fitz - Fitzgeorge, Fitzhugh, Fitzjames, Fitzpatrick, Fitzsimmons, Fitzwilliam
Flopsy
Fodd - Forrest
Ford - anything that ends with '-ford'
Gay - Grace
Gib
Gig
Gigi - Eugenia, Gabrielle, Genevieve, Gertrude, Virginia
Hal - Hamilton, Henry
Ham - Hamilton
Harry - Harris, Harrison, Henry
Happy
Hays
Hilly - Hilary
Holtie
Hud - Hudson, Hugh
Izzy - Elizabeth, Isabella
Jack - John, Jonathan, Joseph
Jay - John
Jeb
Jock - John, Jonathan, Joseph
Kick
Kiki - Catherine, Kelly
Kim - Kermit, Kimberley
Kip - Catherine, Christopher, Kipling, Kipper, Kittredge
Kit - Catherine, Christian, Christine, Christopher, Kester, Kittredge
Knoxie - Knox
Lady
Liddy - Elizabeth, Lydia
Lilly - Elizabeth, Lillian
Linc - Lincoln
Liv
Liz
Lock
Lola
Lolly
Lucky
Lulu
Mac - anything that starts with '-mac'
Meg - Margaret, Megan, Morgan
Miffy
Mimi - Marion, Mary, Miriam
Mimsy - Marion, Mary, Miriam
Minnie
Missy - Melissa, Millicent
Misty
Mittie - Martha
Mitzie - Mariam, Martha, Mary
Molly - Mary, Muriel
Mopsy
Muffy - Martha, Mary, Matilda
Nan / Nanna - Anna
Ned - Edmond, Edward, Edwin, Theodore
Oatsie
Ollie
Peachy
Penn - Pendleton, Penelope, Peniloe, Penna, Penrose, Penleigh, Pennington, Peregrine, Prentice
Pinky - Pinkney, Pinxton
Pony
Pookie
Posy
Pussy
Quad - used for 'The Fourth'
Quint - used for 'The Fifth'
Rae - Rachel
Rex - Reginald, Ronald
Rip
Rocky - Veronica
Rosey - Roosevelt
Ruly - Ruliph
Rusty
Salt
Sarge
Scooter
Scout
Seb
Shep - Shepherd, Stephen
Sissy
Sistie
Skip / Skipp / Skipper
Slim
Sloppie
Sonny
Sperry - Spencer
Spooky
Sport
Tad / Tadd - Thaddeus, Theodore
Taff / Taffy - Andrew, Daphne, Taft, Tafton
Tag - Agatha, Agnes, Montague, Taggart
Tate - Elizabeth, Natalie, Tatum
Taze - Tazewell
Ted - Edward, Theodore
Tib / Tibby - Elizabeth, Tabitha
Tiff - Tiffany
Tig - Matilda
Tip / Tippy / Tipper  - Edward, Thomas, Thomasina, Tipton
Tiz
Todd - Talmadge, Thaddeus, Theodore, Todhunter
Topher - Christopher
Topper - Christopher
Topsy - Tiffany
Trip - typically used for 'The Third'
Tuck / Tucky - Nantucket, Patrick, Thackeray, Theodore, Thomas, Timothy, Tucker
Tuffy
Tug - Arthur, Augustus, Brutus, Tugman, Tugwell
Van - any name that includes "van", as in Vanderbilt or Van Rensselaer
Wash - Washington
Web - Webster
Wells - Wellesley, Wellington
Win - Winifred, Winslet, Winslow, Winston, Winthrop
Wog
Zippy - Elizabeth, Seraphina, Stephanie