I used to have a neighbour named Joan (I live in Wales) :) The name's fallen out of fashion now but you do still sometimes meet older ladies named Joan in the UK.
It's interesting that Agnes and Walter fell out of favor both in the English and German-speaking world at around the same time, while many of the other names stayed popular.
It makes Tudor history a SERIOUS pain, because there's a bazillion people with the same first name... "Wait, was it this Mary, this Mary, this Mary, or that Mary?" (I mean FFS, THREE of Henry VIII's five wives were named Catherine...)
I'm reading the Wolf Hall trilogy and every other man is called Thomas (Cromwell, Cranmer, Wolsey, More, Howard) and every other woman is called Mary (Boleyn, Tudor, Howard, Shelton. Very confusing!
Reminds me of the old nursery rhyme riddle, "Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsey, and Bess, all went together to seek a bird's nest. They found a nest with five eggs in, they each took one and left four in." How?
The two have seemed to contribute to each other in recent times. There are so many little Georges and Charlottes now in the UK. And likewise the Royal Family has been known to choose currently popular names like Archie.
I'm somewhat surprised (but not shocked) that some of the major writers of the New Testament -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul -- are missing. I suppose when sermons are given in Latin, everything (including names) tend to go over the heads of parishioners. Also missing is the George, the patron saint of England. All this is to say that my entire logic was basically useless.
also cool that Betty works for Elizabeth lol
because George has german origins.
So it is not the middle ages.
Kinda like how Matilda was a French influenced name.
So not the middle ages.
Kinda like how the name Matilda came to England after the Norman invasion.