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Godtovi

Discussion of the name

The masculine name Godtovi appears to be an Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid, fusing the common Old English element god (‘god’ or ‘good’) with the Scandinavian name Tovi (ON Tófi) to create a name known only from its occurrence in DB, though paralleled by other hybrid names formed with God– (e.g. Fellows Jensen 1968: 103; Insley 1994: 140). Previous explanation that the name included ‘a prefixed byn[ame] of uncertain form’ (von Feilitzen 1937: 269) took the DB spelling Goltoui seriously as an independent form rather than regarding it, as here, as a miscopying of Godtoui.

Bibliography

Fellows Jensen 1968: Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Akademisk Forlag, 1968)

Insley 1994: John Insley, Scandinavian Personal Names in Norfolk: A Survey based on Medieval Records and Place-Names, Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 62 (Uppsala, 1994)

von Feilitzen 1937: Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksells, 1937)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Godtoui, Goltoui

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Godtoui

  Phillimore edition: Godtovi

  Alecto edition: Godtovi

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
Shire Surrey	Phil. ref. 20,1	Vill Tadworth	DB Spelling Godtoui	Holder 1066 Godtovi 'of Titsey'	Lord 1066 Harold, earl	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William de Briouze	1086 Subtenant Hansard 'of Tadworth'	Fiscal Value 5.00	1066 Value 5.00	1086 Value 2.25	Confidence A	Map
Shire Surrey	Phil. ref. 20,2	Vill Little Bookham	DB Spelling Godtoui	Holder 1066 Godtovi 'of Titsey'	Lord 1066 Harold, earl	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William de Briouze	1086 Subtenant Hansard 'of Tadworth'	Fiscal Value 5.00	1066 Value 2.50	1086 Value 3.00	Confidence A	Map
Shire Surrey	Phil. ref. 30,1	Vill Titsey	DB Spelling Goltoui	Holder 1066 Godtovi 'of Titsey'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Hamon the sheriff	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 20.00	1066 Value 10.00	1086 Value 11.00	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

People of this name

• Godtovi 2 - Godtovi ‘of Titsey’ (Surr.), fl. 1066