Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Did you know there are only a handful of truly English names?
In this video, let's explore where our names really come from: from the Anglo-Saxon 'Edward' and 'Alfred' to Norman 'William' and 'Richard', and biblical names such as 'John', 'Mary' and 'Jacob'.
Along the way we’ll uncover surprising connections between names across languages and centuries. Chances are your name isn’t English at all.
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⭐️PATREON COMMUNITY: patreon.com/robwords
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Check me out on the web, on Twitter & TikTok:
robwords.com
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Editing: Martyn Williams
Camera: Manuel Vering
Everything else: Rob Watts
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:48 Anglo-Saxon names (Edward, Alfred, Ethel, Audrey)
6:59 Norman names (William, Richard, Matilda, Adelaide)
9:34 Christian names (Simon, John, Isaac, Mary, Anna)
14:04 Related names
15:17 Classical names (Alexander, Nicholas, Phoebe, Diana)
18:34 Shakespeare names (Imogen, Olivia, Jessica, Cordelia)
Did you know there are only a handful of truly English names?
In this video, let's explore where our names really come from: from the Anglo-Saxon 'Edward' and 'Alfred' to Norman 'William' and 'Richard', and biblical names such as 'John', 'Mary' and 'Jacob'.
Along the way we’ll uncover surprising connections between names across languages and centuries. Chances are your name isn’t English at all.
👕COOL TSHIRTS: robwords.com/shop
⭐️PATREON COMMUNITY: patreon.com/robwords
📝FREE NEWSLETTER: robwords.com/newsletter
Check me out on the web, on Twitter & TikTok:
robwords.com
https://x.com/robwordsYT
tiktok.com/@robwords
Editing: Martyn Williams
Camera: Manuel Vering
Everything else: Rob Watts
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:48 Anglo-Saxon names (Edward, Alfred, Ethel, Audrey)
6:59 Norman names (William, Richard, Matilda, Adelaide)
9:34 Christian names (Simon, John, Isaac, Mary, Anna)
14:04 Related names
15:17 Classical names (Alexander, Nicholas, Phoebe, Diana)
18:34 Shakespeare names (Imogen, Olivia, Jessica, Cordelia)
![NUMPIRE, NAPRON, [N]EWT and other words were getting wrong](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XBVu4CjYZmo/mqdefault.jpg "NUMPIRE, NAPRON, [N]EWT and other words were getting wrong
Did you know an umpire should actually be a numpire?
Whats more... an apron should be a napron, an adder a nadder, a newt an ewt, and a nickname an ickname. This video explains why on earth that is.
For centuries, English scholars have been accidentally rebracketing words (its also known as metanalysis). Many of their mistakes have stuck in the language, meaning we continue to get these words wrong.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Numpire, napron & nadder
0:27 Explanation of rebracketing
1:20 Newt & nickname
1:44 Evidence in other languages
2:06 Errors that didnt catch on
2:24 Bye bye")
