In England, some consider the Renaissance to have covered the reigns of Henry VII (1485 - 1509), Henry VIII (1509 - 1547), Edward VI (1547 - 1553), Mary I (1553 - 1558), Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603), James I (1603 - 1625), and Charles I (1625 - 1649). The Renaissance came to an end with the execution of Charles I. (2)
Dates in this period can vary because 10 days were dropped from the calendar after 1582 to make the church holidays occur in the proper seasons. Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, and the Roman Catholic German states adopted the "New Style" dates in 1583. England used the "Old Style" Julian Calendar until 1752. In England, the new year began on Lady Day on March 25. (2)
To get a quick sense of what the most common English names were in Tudor England, I went through the index of New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors, 1485 - 1603 and counted names. This method only gives a rough sense of what is popular because the count will favor names used by kings. The names are mostly English names but there were some Scottish and Anglo-Irish nobles mentioned. I may have inadvertenly counted a few Continental names as well. I may also have double counted some names because of "see also" references. But the count gives a rough idea of what names were common in England during the period.
Of the women's names, Elizabeth was the most popular with 12 examples. Anne had 8 examples, Mary 7, and Catherine/Katherine had 6. Margaret and Jane were tied with 5 examples each. Frances and Penelope each had 2 examples in the index. Each of the following had one mention each in the index: Alice, Amy, Charity, Eleanor, Ellen, Florence, Gertrude, Joan, Lettice (Leticia?), Mabel, Sabine, Susan, and Thomasine. (1)
Agnes - 3
Alice - 1
Amy - 1
Anne - 1
Bridget - 3
Catherine/Katherine - 1
Cecily - 3
Charity - 1
Clare - 3
Dorothy - Dorothy Clopton lived c 1508 - 3
Edith - 3
Eleanor - 1
Ellen - 1
Elizabeth - 1
Florence - 1
Frances - 1
Gertrude - 1
Isabel - 3
Jane - 1
Joan - 1
Lettice - 1
Lucy - 3
Mabel - 1
Margaret - 1
Margery - 3
Marjorie - 3
Mary - 1
Maud - 3
Penelope - 1
Sabine - 1
Susan - 1
Thomasine - 1
Ursula - 3
Most of the men's names are familiar to modern audiences. Only a few are relatively unfamiliar today, such as Chidiock (one instance), Lambert, Perkin, and Peregrine (better known in some circles because of the hobbit, Peregrin Took).
By far the most common name was John (80 instances). This is especially impressive because there was only one king named John. Thomas (55 instances) is an impressive number, especially when considering there were no kings named Thomas. William turned up 39 times and Henry 38 times. Richard and Robert remained neck and neck at 23 instances each. James was a popular name with 22 instances. Edward had 19 examples and George had 16. Edmund and Francis tied at 11. Charles followed with 10 examples, Nicholas had 8, and Anthony had 6. Christopher and Walter had 5. The following had less than 5 examples: Alexander, Ambrose, Archibald, Arthur, Barnaby, Ben, Brian (more common in Irish circles), Chidiock, Cuthbert, David, Eustace, Geoffrey, Gerald, Hubert, Hugh, Humphrey, Job, Lambert, Lancelot, Leonard, Louis, Mark, Martin, Maurice, Matthew, Michael, Owen, Peregrine, Perkin, Peter, Philip, Piers, Ralph, Reginald, Reynold, Roger, Ross, Rowland, Simon, and Stephen. (1)
Alexander - 1
Ambrose - 1
Anthony - 1
Archibald - 1
Arthur - 1
Barnaby - 1
Ben - 1
Brian - 1
Charles - 1
Chidiock - 1
Christopher - 1
Cuthbert - 1
David - 1
Diggory - 3
Edmund - 1
Edward - 1
Eustace - 1
Francis - 1
Geoffrey - 1
George - 1
Gerald - 1
Germain - 3
Giles - 3
Henry - 1
Hubert - 1
Hugh - 1
Humphrey - 1
James - 1
Job - 1
John - 1
Lambert - 1
Lancelot - 1
Leonard - 1
Louis - 1
Mark - 1
Martin - 1
Maurice - 1
Matthew - 1
Michael - 1
Nicholas - 1
Owen - 1
Percival - 3
Peregrine - 1
Perkin - 1
Peter - 1
Philip - 1
Piers - 1
Ralph - 1
Reginald - 1
Reynold - 1
Richard - 1
Robert - 1
Roger - 1
Ross - 1
Rowland - 1
Simon - 1
Stephen - 1
Thomas - 1
Walter - 1
William - 1
1 - New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors, 1485 - 1603, Susan Brigden, New York: Viking, 2000.
2 - The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England: From 1485 - 1649, Kathy Lynn Emerson, Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers' Digest Books, 1996.
3 - English Aristocratic Women: 1450 - 1550, Marriage and Family, Property and Careers, Barbara J Harris, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
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Created January 2011