Gothic name

The names of the Goths themselves have been traced to their 3rd century settlement in Scythia. The names Tervingi and Greuthungi have been interpreted as meaning "forest-dwellers" and "steppe-dwellers", respectively. Later on, the terms Ostrogothi and Visigothi have also been understood to mean "Eastern Goths" and "Western Goths", although all four etymologies are not without detractors.^[1]

Jordanes gives partly mythological genealogies leading up to historical 4th to 5th century rulers:

• Amali dynasty: Gapt, Hulmu, Augis, Amal, Athal, Achiulf, Oduulf, Ansila, Ediulf, Vultuulf, Ermanaric
• Vultuulf, Valaravans, Vinithariust Vandalarius, Theodemir, Valamir, Vidimer.

Another important source of early Gothic names are the accounts (hagiography) surrounding the persecution of Gothic Christians in the second half of the 4th century. Many of the Gothic saints mentioned in these sources bear resemblance to Syrian, Cappadocian and Phrygian names, following in the baptismal tradition of that time.

Even though the Muslim invasion of Hispania (715 AD) and subsequent fall of the Visigothic kingdom in the early 8th century caused most Gothic naming traditions to be lost, a type of Gothic or pseudo-Gothic^[2] naming tradition continued in the Kingdom of Asturias, which by that time had become the central driving force behind the Christian reconquest of Andalusia. Thus, Alfonso I of Asturias was originally given the Gothic name *Adafuns or Adalfuns, becoming one of the most popular names in the medieval Iberian kingdoms.

In France, where remnants of the old Visigothic Kingdom still remained (Gothic March),Gothic names continued to be common up until the 12th century.^[3]

Gothic names of the 4th to 6th centuries include:

• Name of the Goths
• List of Visigothic queens
• Amali dynasty
• Balthi dynasty