Names by country
British names for characters
Popular British first names by birth decade, common and regional surnames, pronunciation, and the naming rules writers trip over.
How British names work
Most Britons have one middle name; professional and upper-class families often give two or more. The pronunciation of some old surnames is famously unrelated to the spelling.
First names by birth decade
Names drift in and out of fashion. Pick from the decade your character was born, not the year your story is set.
Born before 1950
Girls
- Margaret
- Patricia
- Jean
- Joan
- Sheila
- Barbara
- Doreen
- Brenda
Boys
- John
- David
- Peter
- Michael
- Alan
- Brian
- Robert
- Anthony
Born 1950–64
Girls
- Susan
- Linda
- Christine
- Margaret
- Janet
- Carol
- Elaine
- Julie
Boys
- David
- John
- Paul
- Stephen
- Michael
- Peter
- Ian
- Andrew
Born 1965–79
Girls
- Sarah
- Claire
- Nicola
- Emma
- Lisa
- Joanne
- Michelle
- Helen
Boys
- Paul
- Mark
- David
- Andrew
- Richard
- Christopher
- Darren
- Lee
Born 1980–94
Girls
- Sarah
- Laura
- Gemma
- Emma
- Rebecca
- Claire
- Victoria
- Samantha
Boys
- Christopher
- James
- David
- Daniel
- Michael
- Matthew
- Thomas
- Adam
Born 1995–2009
Girls
- Chloe
- Emily
- Jessica
- Sophie
- Megan
- Charlotte
- Lauren
- Hannah
Boys
- Jack
- Thomas
- Joshua
- James
- Daniel
- Harry
- Samuel
- Joseph
Born 2010 onward
Girls
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Isla
- Ava
- Lily
- Freya
- Sophia
- Florence
Boys
- Oliver
- Noah
- George
- Arthur
- Muhammad
- Leo
- Harry
- Oscar
Common British surnames
- Smith
- Jones
- Williams
- Taylor
- Brown
- Davies
- Evans
- Wilson
- Thomas
- Johnson
- Roberts
- Robinson
- Thompson
- Wright
- Walker
- White
- Edwards
- Hughes
- Green
- Hall
- Lewis
- Harris
- Clarke
- Jackson
Regional names
Where a character comes from inside the United Kingdom changes their surname, and sometimes their first name.
Northern England (Yorkshire, Lancashire)
Pennine surnames often come from moorland farms and hamlets: -royd means a clearing, -worth an enclosure.
Surnames: Ackroyd, Butterworth, Greenwood, Holroyd, Sutcliffe, Hargreaves, Ashworth, Haigh, Pickles, Crabtree
Cornwall and the West Country
By Tre-, Pol- and Pen- you shall know the Cornishmen: tre is a farmstead, pol a pool, pen a hilltop.
Surnames: Penrose, Pascoe, Tremayne, Nancarrow, Rowe, Trewin, Chenoweth, Hocking, Polglase, Trevithick
Girls: Morwenna, Tamsin, Demelza, Kerensa, Jenna, Lowenna
Boys: Jago, Tristan, Piran, Kenver, Jory, Morgan
Scotland
Scottish children often carry a family surname as a middle name (Fraser, Grant, Cameron), an old Scots custom.
Surnames: Campbell, Stewart, Robertson, MacDonald, Thomson, Anderson, Scott, Murray, Reid, Clark
Girls: Morag, Fiona, Mhairi, Eilidh, Kirsty, Catriona, Isla, Iona
Boys: Iain, Hamish, Alasdair, Euan, Fraser, Callum, Ruaridh, Angus
Wales
Most Welsh surnames grew out of patronymics (ap Rhys became Price, ap Hywel became Powell), so so few exist that people are told apart by job or place: Jones the Post.
Surnames: Jones, Williams, Davies, Evans, Thomas, Roberts, Hughes, Lewis, Morgan, Griffiths
Girls: Siân, Cerys, Ffion, Bethan, Rhiannon, Megan, Nia, Catrin
Boys: Dafydd, Rhys, Gareth, Gwyn, Huw, Iestyn, Aled, Emyr
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, first names and surnames have long been read as hints of community background. Use that deliberately in fiction.
Surnames: Wilson, Campbell, Thompson, Kelly, Smith, Johnston, Moore, O'Neill, Doherty, McLaughlin
Girls: Siobhán, Róisín, Orla, Gráinne, Ruth, Heather, Lorraine, Sharon
Boys: Seamus, Ciarán, Eamonn, Trevor, Mervyn, Gareth, Colm, Darren
English upper class (landed, public school)
Two or three middle names are usual, often from grandparents or godparents. Several old surnames are pronounced nothing like their spelling.
Surnames: Pemberton, Fortescue, Courtenay, Ashby, Worthington, Harcourt, Montague, Pelham, Fanshawe, Villiers
Girls: Arabella, Araminta, Camilla, Henrietta, Clementine, Imogen, Octavia, Georgina
Boys: Hugo, Rupert, Piers, Jasper, Henry, Benedict, Felix, Giles
Questions
What are common British surnames?
Some of the most common British surnames are Smith, Jones, Williams, Taylor, Brown, Davies. Regional surnames differ, so check the regional lists before choosing one for a character from a particular area.
How do British names work?
Most Britons have one middle name; professional and upper-class families often give two or more. The pronunciation of some old surnames is famously unrelated to the spelling.
Build a British character in one tap
InkBorn gives them a name from the right decade, a face card, a background, a personality and even their social media handles.