Hi Doug, > So I wouldn't count out the Norse names as being real.> Thanks for responding to my posting. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the names were not real. I believe that they are real and that is why I am searching for them in other sources. I have two theories on the names that I am reading about: 1) Maybe these brother's father was not William of Eu, but they had a father who would be more likely to name the children these Norse sounding names. For instance, Lawson's "Ivo, Viscount of Cotentin (younger branch)." It seems that certain names tend to run in families. For example, Hugh was very popular in the early Dutton family. Is Neil a French form of the name Nigel which was a common name in the St. Sauveur family? This brings me to my second theory. 2) These guys could be the children of William of Eu, but only one version of their names came down to us. It seems to me that many of the people of these times had at least two versions of their names. Consider Hawisa or Hedwige, d/o Duke Richard I. Also, Robert I's mistress, Herleve (aka Arlette, a French version?). Her two names don't even look the same at all, but I have come to recognize who she is no matter what they call her. So, maybe Odard, Edard, Nigel, Wolmere, Horswyne, and Wolfaith are the Norse versions and we do not have a French version that would go along better with William, Robert, and Richard. Maybe these names are Norse (that's what I thought) but the spelling has been Saxonized by the English writers who wrote them down. Whatever is the truth, I don't know, but between all of us who are interested in this part of our past, maybe we can figure it out!!! I have not yet formed a conclusion (and maybe never will, considering the evidence, or lack, thereof), but I guess that I feel that Lawson's chart which lists Ivo as their father makes sense, since I've been told that Neil is a French version of Nigel. Nigel, Vicomte of the Cotentin, does have a story in the "Gesta Normannorum Ducum...." I will put it together and send it along. Talk to you Later, Carole Doug Hall wrote: > >The way things look at present is: My feeling is that Count Wm of Eu > >would not name his children such odd names, like, Odard, Edard, Nigel, > >Wolmere, Horswyne, and Wolfaith. He would likely use names, such as, > >William, Robert, Richard, etc. I am beginning to think that Lawson is > >more accurate than Burkes Landed Gentry. > > I'm not sure about this Carole. I've read quite a few books on the history > of Viking Normandy and other Norse outposts (such as Sicily and Rus). > Normandy wasn't so much a "country" as it was a settlement of Viking raiders > that initially displaced and then assimilated the indigenous French. It took > three generations before the early French language began to replace the Old > Norse that was spoken among these Norman Vikings. And adoption of > Christianity by the Norman leaders came late and tentatively at first. The > conversion of the rest of the Normans followed but only a generation or two > before William departed on his conquest of England. > > The names Odard and Wolfaith, etc. are good Norse names. Remember, however, > that there was no standard spelling. The written spelling is certainly not > contemporaneous, but the later attempt to record the pronunciation. > > Personal names in Normandy were evidently derived from both the Norse and > French cultures. So it is quite possible for a "William" (French) to name a > son Odard (Norse). Think of the naming conventions of our own non-English > immigrant ancestors in the American colonies. Or of immigrant families > today. Personal names from the "old country" occur as do names from the new > culture for many generations. > > Doug