Wulffrith

Male
DWP
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

Wulffrith is an Old English masculine name comprising the elements wulf ‘wolf’ and frið ‘peace, security’.

The only entry for Wulffrith in the PASE corpus is that for Wulffrith 1, a catch-all category for instances of the name in DB. Although this apparent absence of pre-Conquest examples would usually indicate that the name was extremely rare it should be noted both that Searle (1897: 506) suggests ninth-century examples of Wulffrith from Mercia and Kent and also that the elements wulf and frið were each used in the formation of other, and more common, personal names. The DB corpus is very small but the distribution might also indicate a name whose use was slightly more widespread than might first seem the case.

Bibliography

von Feilitzen 1937: O. von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala, 1937)

Freeman 1985: A. Freeman, The Moneyer and the Mint in the Reign of Edward the Confessor 1042-1066, British Archaeological Reports, British Series 145 (Oxford, 1985)

Hogg 1992: R. M. Hogg, A Grammar of Old English. Volume 1: Phonology (Oxford, 1992)

Insley 2003: J. Insley, ‘Pre-Conquest personal names’, Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 23, Pfalzel – Quaden (Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003)

Insley et al. 2007: J. Insley and D. Rollason with P. McClure, ‘A.3 English dithematic names’, in ed. D. and L. Rollason, The Durham Liber Vitae: Volume II (London, 2007), 81-165

Searle 1897: W. G. Searle, Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum (Cambridge, 1897)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Guluert, Vlfert, Vluert, Vlued

Variant spelling in Exon Domesday: Vlfertus

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Wulffrith

  Phillimore edition: Wulffrith, Wulfrith

  Alecto edition: Wulffrith 

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Devon 3,27 Hagginton Vlfert Wulffrith 'of Hagginton' - Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances Drew fitzMauger 0.25 0.50 0.30 C Map
Gloucestershire 76,1 Temple Guiting Guluert Wulffrith 'of Guitting' - unnamed wife of Gerwy de Loges - 1.33 0.67 0.33 C Map
Somerset 8,20 Shepton Mallet Vluert Wulffrith 'of Shepton' Æthelnoth, abbot of Glastonbury Thurstan, abbot of Glastonbury Roger de Courseulles 6.50 7.00 7.00 B Map
Totals