Norse Men's Names from the Sagas and Myths

This is an informal compilation of Norse men's names from 
various sagas and myths.  Its primary purpose is to assist 
SCAdian men in choosing good Viking names.  As time permits 
I will add a section on women's names.

There are numerous sources online regarding the different 
types of names, all linked from the Heraldy section of the 
SCA web page.  I will present only the short version here.  
For the SCA, you need a given name (such as John) and a 
surname (such as Smith).  The two should match in region 
and time period.  Finally, you have to be able to prove, 
or document, that a person with that name could have existed 
in the time and region.  Your name can't be the exact name 
of a famous person who actually existed, but you can use 
parts of names from actual people (it makes documentation 
very easy).

Given names were based on whatever was popular for the time, 
or names that associated the person with powerful people or 
forces (look for names derived from Thor below).

Medieval people did not travel very widely, so the surname 
had to differentiate all the people who shared a given name 
in the area. The surname could be based on your location of 
origin (Olaf of Permia), your occupation (Olaf Ale-Hood), 
your parents (Olaf Bjornsson), or a nickname given you by 
others (Olaf Firebeard).  You might also combine one or more 
surnames (Olaf Firebeard of Permia).

Patronymic surnames were very common in the Viking world.  
Many Viking men were named for their father, for example Eric 
Olafsson means Eric, son of Olaf, or Danr Bjornsson means Danr, 
son of Bjorn.  In fact, this exact system was used in Denmark 
until after my grandmother was born in the early 20th century.  
Therefore, the easiest way to pick a Viking name is to choose 
two given names that you like, one being you and one being for
your father, to which you add "sson" to the end.

The Laxdaela saga includes the following given names for men.  
I don't know the translations for most of these.  Some have my
editorial comments of varying value.

Alf
An
Ari
Armod
Arnor
Asgaut
Asgeir
Audgisl
Audun
Bard
Bardi
Beinir
Bersi
Bjorn (bear)
Bolli
Bork
Egil
Einar
Eldgrim
Eyjolf
Eyvind
Geirmund
Gellir
Gest
Gizur
Glum
Grim
Gudlaug
Gudmund
Gunnar
Gunnlaug
Hakon
Hall
Hallbjorn
Halldor
Hallfred
Hallstein
Harald
Hardbein
Helgi (Helga is the female name)
Herjolf
Hermund
Hjalti
Hord
Hoskuld
Hrapp
Hrut
Hunbogi
Ingjald
Isleif
Kalf
Kari
Ketil
Kjartan (this person was named after an Irishman Myrkjartan)
Knut
Kolbein
Koll
Kotkel
Lambi
Magnus (isn't this Latin for "great?"  why is a Norwegian using it?)
Odd
Olaf (seems like a popular name; Olof seems to be the female version)
Orm
Orn
Ornolf
Ospak
Osvif
Ottar (is this a variation of Otr, meaning otter?)
Rognvald
Runolf
Snorri
Stein
Steinthor
Stigandi
Sumarlidi
Svein
Sverting
Thangbrand
Thorarin (this name seems to be used by men and women) 
Thorbjorg
Thorbjorn
Thord (female version seems to be Thordis) 
Thorbrand
Thorfinn (female version is Thorfinna)
Thorgils
Thorgrim
Thorhalla (Thor's hall?)
Thorkel
Thorleik
Thorolf
Thorstein (Thor's stone)
Thorunn (female name)
Thorvald (Thor's forest)
Torrad Vandrad
Vermund

Hrafnkel's Saga includes the following names (repeats from 
above are not listed):

Aki
Asbjorn
Audun
Bjarni
Broddi
Eirik
Eystein
Halli
Hrolf
Ivar
Oddbjorg
Oddny
Sam (in modern Danish this means "same" but I don't know for 
about Old Norse)
Sighvat
Sigurd
Skapti
Starri
Steingrim
Ulf (means "wolf", as in Svein Ulfsson, King of Denmark in 
11th century)

Surnames:

As mentioned, most surnames were patronymic, in that they 
referred to your father or, in same cases, your mother if she 
was famous.  There are other, "nickname" type surnames.  Some 
examples are listed below.  Note that you couldn't use these 
as printed; you'd have to change the given name or otherwise 
make them different.  There are a huge variety of possible 
surnames, but the ones listed below should give you a feel 
for the kinds of things actually used.

-An the White (Laxdaela Saga)
-An the Black (brother of An the White; Laxdaela Saga)
-Ari the Learned (Laxdaela Saga)
-Asgeir the Hot-Headed (Laxdaela Saga)
-Beinir the Strong (Laxdaela Saga)
-Bjorn the Easterner (Laxdaela Saga; emigrated from Norway)
-Eyvind of the Uplands (to differentiate him from other Eyvinds)
-Hallfred the Troublesome-Poet (Laxdaela Saga; this name's story is interesting)
-Harald Bluetooth (King of Denmark; bad oral hygiene?)
-Harald Fine-Hair (King of Norway in 8th century)
-Hreider Thorgrimmsson the Fool (Hrafnakel's saga)
-Ketil Flat-Nose (Laxdaela Saga)
-Olaf the Saint (King of Norway)
-Olaf the Peacock (Laxdaela Saga)
-Sigurd Sow (ruler of Ringerike and father of Harald Hardradi; I don't know what the surname means)
-Snorri the Priest (lived in 9th-10th century Norway)
-Starri of Goddale (Hrafnakel's saga; Goddale is a place in Norway)
-Svein of Lyrgja (Hrafnakel's saga; Lyrgja is/was in Norway)
-Thorhall Ale-Hood (he was a brewer by trade; Hrafnakel's saga)
-Thorir England-Trader (trade...plunder...it's all the same to Vikings)
-Thorstein the Staff-Struck (Hrafnakel's saga; his rival hit him with a stick during a horse-fight and then gave him this name when he didn't fight back)
-Thorstein the Red (Laxdaela Saga)
-William the Conqueror (11th century king)

You get the idea.  I hope this helps you get started. 

In Service,

Danr Bjornsson
Border Vale Keep Cornet