List of ancient Germanic peoples

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This list of ancient Germanic peoples is an inventory of ancient Germanic cultures, tribal groupings and other alliances of Germanic tribes and civilisations in ancient times. The information comes from various ancient historical documents, beginning in the 2nd century BC and extending into late antiquity. By the Early Middle Ages, early forms of kingship began to have an historical impact across Europe, with the exception of Northern Europe, where the Vendel Period from AD 550 to 800 and the subsequent Viking Age until AD 1050 are still seen in the Germanic context.

The associations and locations of the numerous peoples and groups in ancient sources are often subject to heavy uncertainty and speculation, and classifications of ethnicity regarding a common culture or a temporary alliance of heterogeneous groups are disputed. Sometimes it is not even certain that these groups are Germanic in the broader linguistic sense, or in other words, that they consisted of speakers of a Germanic language.

In this respect, the names listed here are not terms for ethnic groups in any modern sense, but the names of groups that were perceived in ancient and late antiquity as Germanic. It is essentially an inventory of peoples, groups, alliances and associations stretching from the Barbaricum region east of the Rhine to the north of the Danube (also known as Germania) especially those that arrived during the Migration Period.

In alphabetical order[]

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.

The present list is largely based on the list of Germanic tribal names and its spelling variants contained in the first register of the Reallexikons der Germanischen Altertumskunde.[1]

The first column contains the English name and its variants, if one is common, otherwise the traditional ancient name. The second column contains ancient names of Latin and Greek authors, the latter both in transcription and in Greek. The third column gives a brief description followed by a location.

The fifth column gives important sources of tradition for the group in question. The few ancient main sources for names and location of Germanic tribes are not linked. These are:

  • Julius Caesar: Commentarii de Bello Gallico
  • Jordanes: De origine actibusque Getarum, short Getica
  • Ptolemy: Geography
  • Tacitus: Germania
Name Ancient name Description Location Sources
A
Adogit Hålogaland, the northernmost Norwegian Petty Kingdom. Between the Namdalen valley in Nord-Trøndelag and the Lyngen fjord in Troms. Jordanes
Adrabaecampi Adrabaikampoi (´Αδραβαικαμποι) See Kampoi North of the Danube, south of Bohemia Ptolemy
Aduatuci, Atuatuci Aduatici, Atouatikoi (Ἀτουατικοί) Left bank of the Rhine in the squad of the Belgian tribes against Caesar In the first century BC in the area of today's Tongeren (Belgium), between the Scheldt and the Meuse Julius Caesar
Aelvaeones, Elouaiones, Elvaiones, Aelvaeones, Ailouaiones, Alouiones, Ailouones Alouiones (Αλουίωνες), Helouaiones ('Ελουαίωνες) See Helveconae Presumably at the middle Oder, today's Silesia Tacitus, Ptolemy
Aglies
Agradingun Saxon tribe Middle course of the Weser
Ahelmil Scandza Jordanes
Alemanni, Alamanni Alamanni From various Elbe Germanic tribes, among them probably Suebian tribes, armies and followers from the 3rd century on provincial Roman soil (Agri decumates) developed population group Core areas in Baden-Württemberg and Alsace, in Bavarian Swabia, German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg
Ambrones, Obrones, Ymbre Ambrones Participation of tribal groups in the train of the Cimbri and the Teutons at the end of the 2nd century BC
Ampsivarii, Ampsivari, Amsivarii, Amsivari Ansibarii, Ansivaroi (Ἀνσιβαριοί) Southern neighbours of the Frisii 1st century in the lower Emsland Tacitus
Anartes, Anarti, Anartii, Anartoi Anarti Possibly Germanic tribe in the border area between the Teutons and the Dacians Hungary or Romania Julius Caesar
Angarii See Angrivarii
Tribe in the wake of Dengizich Jordanes
Angles, Anglians Anglii, Angeiloi (Άγγειλοι), Angiloi (Άγγιλοι) At Tacitus to the Ingaevones counted North Germanic people Originally in Jutland (Schleswig-Holstein), later Mittelelb-Saale area, from 200 emigration to Great Britain Tacitus
, Angleverii, Anglevaries, Angleveries
Anglo-Saxons From the Angles and Saxons, as well as the Jutes, Frisii and Franks on British soil originated collecting people Southeastern England
Angrivarii, Angrevarii, Angrivari, Angrevari, Angarii, Angerii, Angrii, Angari, Angeri, Angri, Aggeri, Angriouarroi, Aggerimenses, Angerienses Angrivarii, Angriouarioi (Αγγριουάριοι) In the 1st century, south of the Chauci, north of the Cherusci, northwest of the Dulgubnii and east of the Ampsivarii On the Weser, mainly on the right bank, from the tributary of the Aller to the Steinhuder Meer
Armalausi, Armilausi Probably a part of the Hermunduri, in the 3rd and 4th centuries between the Alemanni and the Marcomanni Possibly in the Upper Palatinate Tabula Peutingeriana
Arochi
Designation of the Vikings at Adam of Bremen
Augandzi
Avarpi, Auarpoi, Avarni
Aviones, Auiones, Chaibones Aviones
B
Baemi, Baimoi
Baiuvarii, Bavarii, Baioarii, Baiovarii Bavarii Towards the end of the migration of peoples in the 5th century, people formed with the core area in Raetia and Noricum Altbayern, Austria and South Tyrol
Banochaemae, Bainochaimai
, Bards, Bardi Possibly a non-southward group of the Lombards South of the Elbe, in the area of Bardowick and Lüneburg
Bastarnae, Bastarni, Basternae Bastarnae Fights with the Romans in the 3rd century BC, probably outweigh Germanic tribe East side of the Carpathian Mountains to the mouth of the Danube estuary Polybius
Batavi, Batavii, Batavians Batavi Originally allies of the Romans in the province of Gallia Belgica, 69 Revolt of the Batavi under Gaius Julius Civilis In the 1st century at the mouth of the Rhine
Bateinoi, Batini Batini
Bergio
Betasii, Baetasi Baetasii
Brisgavi, Brisigavi Brisgavi, Brisigavi Alemannic tribe in the 5th century Breisgau
Brondings
Bructeri, Boructuarii, Boruactii, Borchtii Bructeri, Boructuarii, Broukteroi (Βρούκτεροι) In the 1st century, opponents of the Romans in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest Between the middle Ems and the upper Lippe
Bucinobantes Bucinobantes Alemannic tribe in the 4th century Main estuary at Mainz Ammianus Marcellinus
Burgundians Burgundiones East Germanic people with late antique foundations on the Rhine and later the Rhone
Buri Buri
C
Caemani Caemani, Paemani
Caeroesi, Caerosi Caerosi, Caeroesi, Ceroesi, Cerosi Left Rhine Celto-Germanic tribe In the 1st century BC in the Eifel-Ardennes area Julius Caesar
Calucones
Cananefates, Canninefates, Caninefates, Canenefatae Cannenefates, Canninefates, Cannenafates, Cannefates In the 1st century, western neighbours of the Batavi Around Voorburg in South Holland
Caracates. Caeracates Possibly an old Northern German Celtic tribe of the Cimbri or a Vindelician tribe. Location unknown.
Carpi, Carpiani Carpi, Carpiani Southeastern European people, classification as Germanic is controversial End of the 3rd century in Moesia and Dacia
Caritni Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ptolemy
Casuari
Chaedini Chaideinoi
Chaemae
Chaituoroi (Χαιτούωροι)
, Aviones, Auiones
Chaideinoi
Chali Chali
Chamavi Chamavi, Chamauoi (Χαμαυοί) Neighbours of the Angrivarii and Dulgubnii, eventually went into the Franks In the 1st century on the Lower Rhine Tacitus
, Charinni, Harii Charini, Harii
Charudes See Harudes
Chasuarii See Chattuarii
Chatti, Catti, Cattai, Cathi, Cathai, Chattai, Chatthi, Chatthai Chatti, Catti, Cathi, Chattai (Χάτται), Chattoi (Χάττοι) In the 1st century, neighbours of the Suebi, precursors of the Valleys of the Eder, Fulda and the upper reaches of the Lahn
Chattuarii, Chasuarii, Hasuarii, Attuarii Atthuarii, Attuarii, Chattouarioi (Χαττουάριοι)
, Catvori? Name is Greek or Latin in origin and means "bristle eater" Upper Palatinate Ptolemy
Chauboi (Χαῦβοι)
Chauci Chauki, Chauchi, Cauci, Kauchoi (Καῦχοι), Kaukoi (Καῦκοι) From Tacitus to the Ingaevones counted tribe On both sides of the lower Weser
Cherusci Cherusci, Cherouskoi (Χεροῦσκοι), Chairouskoi (Χαιρουσκοί) Tribe of Arminius, in the 1st century, opponents of the Romans On both sides of the upper Weser run in East Westphalia and in Lower Saxony to the Elbe
, Ciltate/Ciltanati? Possibly a tribe of Etruscan origin or a tribe named after the Roman Plebeian family Cilnii.
Cimbri Combri, Cymbri, Cimbri, Kimbroi (Κίμβροι) Along with the Teutons and Ambrones from 120 BC incidence in Gaul and Italy Originally probably northern Jutland. Most consider this tribe a confederation of Northern German Celtic tribes before their defeat against the Romans. If Celtic most likely a Q-Celtic speaking people.
Kloilios (Κλοίλιος), Claodikus
Cobandi Jutland
Coldui
Condrusi Condrusi Celtic-Germanic mixed culture In the 1st century BC in the left bank of the Middle Rhine region Julius Caesar
Corconti Korkontoi
Crimean Goths Descendants of the Ostrogoths From the middle of the 3rd century on the Crimean peninsula
Cugerni, Cuberni, Guberni Cugerni, Cuberni Tribe of the Rhine-Weser Germanic peoples In the 1st century in the left bank of the Lower Rhine (Kreis Kleve)
D
Dandutoi (Δανδοῦτοι)
Danes Dani, Danoi (Δανοι) From the 6th century in Scania and Jutland Scania and Jutland Procopius, Jordanes
Dauciones Daukiones (Δαυκίωνες)
Diduni Diduni
Dornware
Δοῦνοι
Dulgubnii Dulgubnii, Dulgitubini, Dulcubuni In the 1st century, southeast of the Angrivarii and the Chamavi South of Hamburg in the area of the Lüneburg Heath and all around Celle Tacitus
E
, Ostherules
East Saxons
Eburones Eburones Probably Celtic tribe, counted from Caesar to the Germanic people Between the Rhine, Meuse, Rhineland, Northern Ardennes and Eifel
Elbe Germans Archaeologically defined group of Germanic tribes (including the Semnones, Hermunduri, Quadi, Marcomanni and Lombards) From the Elbe estuary on both sides of the river to Bohemia and Moravia
Elmetsaetan
Elouaiones Ailouaiones (Αἰλουαίωνες), Alouiones (Αλουίωνες), Helouaiones ('Ελουαίωνες), Ailouones (Αἰλούονες), Helouones ('Ελουωνες)
Eudoses Eudusii, Eudoses, Eduses, Edures, Eudures
Eunixi
see Jutes
Evagre
F
Favonae Favonae, Phauonai (Φαυόναι)
Feppingas
Fervir
Finnaithae Finnaithae
Firaesi Phrisioi (Φρίσιοι), Phiraisoi (Φιραῖσοι)
Virsedi
Fosi, Fosii Fosi Small neighbouring tribe of the Cherusci, who went under with these In the 1st century in the headwaters of the Aller
Franks Large tribal union, which integrated numerous Germanic tribes in late antiquity Right of the Rhine to the mouth of the Rhine estuary, from the 4th century onwards to Roman territory left of the Rhine
Frisiavones Frisiavones, Frisaebones Rhine delta Pliny the Elder, Natural History 4,101; CIL 6, 3260 et al.
Frisii, Frisians Frisii North Sea Germanic tribe, counted from Tacitus to the Ingaevones In the 1st century from the mouth of the Rhine to about the Ems Tacitus
East of the Oder Ptolemy
Jutland
G
Gambrivii Gambrivi Probably near the Weser Strabo, Tacitus
Gautigoths Gautigoth Probably in Västergötland Jordanes
Geats Goutai (Γου̑ται), Geatas, Getae North Germanic people, often identified with the Goths Southern Sweden Ptolemy
Gepids Gepidi, Gebidi, Gipedae From the middle of the 5th century, empire-building on the middle Danube, possibly related to the Goths Romania Jordanes, Procopius
Gewisse, Gewissæ Saxon ethnic group in Britain At the end of the 5th century on the Upper Thames in England
Goths, Gotones, Gutones Gutones Split up during the Migration Period into the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, each with their own imperial formations on Roman soil At the turn of the day, north of the Vistula knee Jordanes
Gotthograikoi
Graioceli
Grannii Granii
Greuthungi, Greuthungs, Greutungi, Greutungs Greothingi, Grutungi, Grauthungi, Greutungi Another name of the Ostrogoths Ammianus Marcellinus, Jordanes
Gutes, Gotlanders
H
Haddingjar
, Heaðobeardan
Hallin Hallin
Harii Harii Tribe of the Lugii Between the Vistula and the Oder Tacitus
Harudes, Charudes, Harothes Harudes, Charudes (Χαροῦδες), Arudes In the 1st century BC, allies of the Ariovistus against Caesar To Ptolemy in the middle of the 2nd century in Jutland Julius Caesar, Ptolemy
Hasdingi, Asdingi, Haddingjar Tribe of the Vandals In the 2nd century in Romania and Hungary
, Heiðnir
Helisii
Hellusii
Helveconae, Helvaeonae, Helvecones, Helvaeones, Helouaiones Helvecones Tribe of the Lugii Between the Vistula and the Oder Tacitus
Herminones, Erminones, Hermiones, Irminones Herminones Large group of Germanic people, occupying the middle between the Ingaevones and the Istvaeones Tacitus, Pliny the Elder, Pomponius Mela
Hermunduri, Ermunduri, Hermanduri, Hermunduli, Hermonduri, Hermonduli Ermunduri, Hermunduri Elbe Germanic tribe Upper reaches of the Elbe
Herules, Erules, Heruli, Eruli Eruli, Erouloi (Ερουλοι) Participants in the parades of the Goths From the middle of the 3rd century on the north coast of the Black Sea
Hilleviones Hilleviones
, Holcetae
Holtsati
Hreiðgoths
Hundingas See Hundings Widsith
I
, Inkriones Inkriones (ιγκριονες) Tribe of the Rhine-Weser Germanic peoples, middle of the 2nd century, neighbours of the Tencteri Between the Rhine and the Taunus Ptolemy
Ingaevones, Ingvaeones, Ingwaeones, Inguaeones, Inguiones, Ingwines, Guiones Ingvaeones, Ingaevones, Ingvaenoes, Inguaeones Large group of Germanic tribes located on the North Sea coast by Tacitus Tacitus, Pliny the Elder
, Ingwaii
Intouergoi, Intouergoi (Ιντουεργοι) Between the Rhine and the Taunus Ptolemy
Irminones, Herminones, Hermiones
Istvaeones, Istaevones, Istriaones, Istriones, Sthraones Istvaenoes, Istaevones Large group of Germanic tribes located on the Rhine by Tacitus Tacitus
J
Jutes, Eudoses, Eutes, Euthiones Eurii, Eutii, Eucii, Euthiones Originally in Jutland, later in the south of Great Britain Until the 5th century on Jutland
Juthungi Iouthungi, Iuthungi Probably an Alemannic tribe From the 3rd to the 5th century, north of the Danube and Altmühl
K
Kampoi, Campi, Campes Kampoi (Κάμποι) Group of unclear destination north of the Danube and south of Bohemia in the 2nd century Ptolemy
, Kvanes
L
Lacringi
, Landi Landi, Landoudioi From the 1st century on the Lahn in Middle Hesse Strabo, Ptolemy
Lemovii, Lemonii Lemovii At Tacitus neighbours of the Rugii and Goths From the 1st century, southern Baltic Sea coast between the Oder and the Vistula
Lentienses, Linzgau Lentienses Alemannic tribe Mid-3rd century between the Danube in the north, Iller in the east and Lake Constance in the south Ammianus Marcellinus
Liothida
Little Goths Gothi minores Group of the Goths, Ulfilas tribe, at the time of the Jordanes in the area of Nicopolis in Moesia South bank of the lower Danube Jordanes
Lombards, Longobards, Langobards, Winili, Winnili, Winnilers Langobardi, Langobardoi (Λαγγοβάρδοι) Part of the Suebi, from the middle of the 6th century founding of the empire in Italy (Kingdom of the Lombards) In the 1st century BC on the lower Elbe
Lugii, Lygii Lugii, Lúgioi
M
, Maiati
Manimi Manimi Tribe of the Lugii Between the Vistula and the Oder Tacitus
Marcomanni Marcomanni Possibly a tribe of the Suebi, from the middle of the 2nd century, opponents of the Romans in the Marcomannic Wars In the 1st century in Bohemia
Marsaci
Marsi, Marsigni Marsi, Marsoí (Μαρσοί), Marsigni Destroyed after participation in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in the year 14 by Germanicus Between the Rhine, Ruhr and Lippe
Marouingoi Lower Saxony/North Rhine-Westphalia Ptolemy
Mattiaci Mattiaci, Mattiakoi (Ματτιακοί) Probably a part of the Chatti, Romanised from the 1st century Around Wiesbaden, in the Taunus and in the Wetterau
Menapii, Manapi Menapii Celtic-Germanic mixed people, subjugated by Caesar in the 1st century BC in Gallia Belgica Lower Rhine, Flanders Julius Caesar
Called by Jordanes as residents of Scandza Scandinavia Jordanes
, Mosellians Subset of the Franks, separated from the Ripuarian Franks in the 5th century Upper Rhine and Moselle
Mougilones
Myrgingas East Frisian part of the Frisii, who settled around 700 in Nordfriesland Nordfriesland, Tönnern, Rungholdt Widsith
N
Nahanarvali, Naharvali Nahanarvali, Naharvali Tribe of the Lugii Between the Vistula and the Oder Tacitus
Narisci, Naristi, Varisti, Varasci, Varisci Naristi, Varisti, Varistae Neighbours of the Marcomanni, Quadi and Armalausi Upper Palatinate, Upper Franconia and North Bohemia Tacitus
Suebi Nicrenses Romanised tribe of the Suebi In the 1st and 2nd century in the area of Ladenburg
Nemetes Nemetai (Νεμῆται) (Probably Germanic) allies of the Ariovistus In the 1st century BC on the Rhine between Lake Constance and Palatinate Julius Caesar
Nervii Nervii Strongly Celtic Germanic tribe[2][3] In the Gallia Belgica between the Meuse and the Scheldt in the north and the west of today's Belgium Julius Caesar, Tacitus
Njars
Nordliudi
Normans Collective name for the Northern European Germanic tribes, which undertook raids in the 8th and 11th century to the south (England, Ireland, Francia, the Mediterranean and present-day Russia), also synonymous with the Vikings
Nuithones, Nuitones
O
Ostrogoths Ostrogothi, Ostrogoti, Ostrogotae, Ostrogothae, Austrogothi Part of the Goths, first in Pannonia, then empire-building in Italy Jordanes
P
Paemani, Permani Paemani, Caemani Left Rhine Celto-Germanic people Eifel, Ardennes Julius Caesar
Parmaikampoi (Παρμαικαμπο) See Kampoi North of the Danube in Bavaria Ptolemy
Peucini Part of the Bastarnae Tacitus
As Germanic "natives" of Westphalia and Eastphalia constructed tribe
Pharadinoi Mecklenburg
Q
Quadi Quadi Tribe of the Suebi, participants of the Marcomannic Wars Tacitus
? Possibly a mistaken transliteration of the Greek name Ούίρουνοι = Oúírounoi; O and not Q, mistaken O for a Q? Initial Greek Ou = W; Viruni in Latin; possibly a variant of Varini? Ουαρίνοι - Ouarínoi = Warínoi
R
Raetovari Raetobarii Alemannic tribe Probably in Nördlinger Ries
, Ranii
Raumarici
, Reudinges, Reudinges, Reudingi, Holstens
Ripuarian Franks, Ripuarians, Ripuarii, Rhinefranks, Rhine Franks Subset of the Franks in the Middle Rhine
Rosomoni Rosomoni
Rugii, Rygir, Rugians Rugii Moved in the Migration Period with the Goths to the south Originally between the Vistula and the Oder, later empire-building in Lower Austria
Rus' See Varangians
S
Sabalingioi Jutland
Salian Franks, Salians Salii Part of the Franks Originally from the Lower Rhine to the Salland on the IJssel, then in North Brabant and later in the Tournai area
Saxons Saxones West Germanic people's Association of the Chauci, Angrivarii and Cherusci From the 1st century in northwest Germany and the east of the Netherlands
Scordisci Related to the Bastarnae according to Titus Livy Šar Mountains to Singidunum in the Balkans Titus Livy
Sedusii Ally of the Ariovistus, classified by Caesar as Germanic Julius Caesar
Segni Segni
Semnones Semnones (Σεμνόνες) Part of the Suebi, at Tacitus their tribe Around 100 between the Elbe and the Oder from the Bohemian border to the Havel Tacitus
Sibinoer
Sicambri Sugambri
Western Pomerania
See Sugambri
Silingi, Silings Silingae Part of the Vandals Silesia, later Andalusia
Sigulones Jutland
Sitones, Sithones Neighbours of the Suiones Probably Scandinavia Tacitus
Sciri Moved with the Bastarnae to the south, in the 5th century short imperial formation in Pannonia
Sturii
Sturmera
Suarines, Suardones Suarines, Suarmes, Smarines Tribe of the Suebi Around Lake Schwerin in Mecklenburg
Suebi, Suevi, Suavi, Suevians, Swabians Suebi, Suewi, Sueboi (Σύηβοι) Important Germanic tribal group, to which according to Tacitus the Semnones, Marcomanni, Hermunduri, Quadi and Lombards belonged In the northeast of Germania on the Baltic Sea up to the German Central Uplands Tacitus
Sugambri, Sigambri, Sugambi, Sigambri Sugambri, Sygambri, Sugambroi (Σύγαμβροι), Sugumbri, Sucambri, Sycambres, Sugameri 7 BC defeated by Tiberius and settled on the left of the Rhine In the 1st century left-bank areas on the Meuse
Suiones, Suones, Sueones, Suehans, Sweones, Swiones, Sviones Suiones Northern European sea people described by Tacitus Possibly Scandinavia
Sunuci, Sinuci, Sunici Sunuci Possibly precursors of the Ubii In the 1st and 2nd century in the Rhineland between Aachen and Jülich
Swedes, Svear Svea North Germanic tribe Svealand in the region of the Mälaren river valley as well as Uppland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Södermanland
T
Taetel
Taifals Taifali, Taifalae, Theifali Probably a Germanic tribe in the group of the Visigoths From the 3rd century in Dacia and Moesia
Tencteri, Tenchteri, Tenctheri Tencteri, Toncteri, Tenkteroi (Τέγκτηροι) Northern neighbours of the Usipetes, opponents of Caesar In the 1st century BC on the Lower Rhine
Thervingi, Tervingi, Teruingi Tervingi See Visigoths
Thelir Thilir, Þilir, teler, telar The Migration Period and the Viking Age The region now known as Upper Telemark in modern Norway
Unterelbe (Lower Elbe)
Teutons Teutoni, Teutones Together with the Cimbri and the Ambrones from the 120 BC invasion of Gaul and Italy Originally Jutland, south of the Cimbri
Texuandri
Theustes
Thiadmariski
Thuringii, Thuringians, Turingi, Toringi Thueringi, Tueringi, Thuringin, Turingi In the 3rd or 4th century from the Angles, Warini and other originated tribal groups Between the Thuringian Forest, Werra, Harz and the Elbe
Texandri, Texuandri, Taxandri, Toxandrians Between the rivers Meuse and Scheldt in the Belgian-Dutch border region[4]
Treveri, Treviri Treverii, Treviri, Treveri Strongly Celtic Germanic tribe[5][3] From the Rhine[6] to the land of the Remi Julius Caesar, Tacitus
Triboci, Tribocci Triboces, Triboci, Tribocci, Tribochi, Tribocchoi (Τριβόκχοι) In the 1st century BC, allies of the Ariovistus On the Rhine around Strasbourg and Haguenau Julius Caesar, Ptolemy
Tubantes, Tubanti Tubanti, Tubantes, Toubantoi (Τούβαντοι) In the 1st century, opponents of Germanicus End of the migration period in the eastern Netherlands in the Twente region Tacitus
Tulingi Possibly Celto-Germanic tribe Julius Caesar
Tungri, Tungrians, Tungrii, Tongri Tungri, Tongri Opponents of Caesar in the 1st century BC Left side of the Rhine around Tongeren Julius Caesar, Tacitus
Turcilingi, Torcilingi, Thorcilingi Turcilingae
Turones, Turoni Turoni Possibly Celto-Germanic tribe, south and later southeast of the Chatti (see Thuringii above) Ptolemy
, Twihantes, Tuihanti, Tuihantes Tuihanti
U
Ubii Ubii Originally right of the Rhine Germanic, subjected to Caesar and from the early imperial period on the left bank of the Rhine and Romanised Originally from the Sieg over the Lahn to the lower Main, later in the area of Bonn and Cologne
Ulmerugi
Incursions around 256 into the Roman Empire Lower Danube Zosimus
Usipetes, Usipii Usipetes, Usipii, Ousipetai (Ουσιπέται), Ousipioi (Ουσίπιοι) In the 1st century BC, opponents of Caesar On the right bank of the Lower Rhine
V
Probably on Gotland
Valagoths
Vandals Vandali, Vanduli, Vandaloi (Οὐανδαλοί), Wandeloi (Βανδῆλοι), Wandiloi (Βανδίλοι) Originally in the northeastern Germania, during the Migration Period in Spain and North Africa, plunder of Rome 455
Vangiones Vangiones Affiliation to Celts or Germanic peoples not secured Area around Worms, Germany ()
Varangians Similar to the Vikings' and Normans' name for the northern European Germanic people, who came on their journeys into contact with Slavic peoples (there also as Rus') and over the Volga and the Black Sea to Byzantium
Varini See Warini
Varisci
Vidivarii Vidivarii According to Jordanes, a mixed people At the mouth of the Vistula Jordanes
Vinoviloth
Mecklenburg
Wisburgi Between the Upper Oder and the Vistula[7]
Visigoths, Thervingi Visigothi, Wisigothae, Tervingi Part of the Goths, plunder of Rome 410, Visigothic Kingdom in southwestern Gaul and Spain Jordanes
Vispi South of Caritner
Vistula Veneti, Baltic Veneti, Veneti Venedi, Venetae, Venedae Possibly Germanic people in eastern Germania
W
Warini, Varini Varini, Varinae, Ouarinoi (Ουαρίνοι) Smaller, after Tacitus unwarlike tribe Northern Germany Tacitus
, Westherules Independent group of the Herules on the Black Sea, which appears as Roman auxiliary troops and in the 5th century as pirates in appearance
Winnilers, Winnili, Winili See Lombards
X
Y
Z

Ancestors[]

Map 1: Indo-European migrations as described in The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony
  • Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers)
    • Proto-Germanics (Proto-Germanic speakers)

Possible ethnolinguistic kinship[]

The expansion of the Germanic tribes 750 BCE – 1 CE (after the Penguin Atlas of World History 1988):
   Settlements before 750 BCE
   New settlements by 500 BCE
   New settlements by 250 BCE
   New settlements by 1 CE
Map 3: One proposed theory for approximate distribution of the primary Germanic dialect groups, and matching peoples, in Europe around the year 1 AD:
North Germanic peoples:
  North Germanic - Norsemen: Suiones/Swedes, Geats/Scandinavian Goths, Gutes, Danes, Raumarici, , Adogit, others
West Germanic peoples:
  North Sea Germanic - Ingvaeonic peoples - Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Chauci, Frisii/Frisians, others
  Weser-Rhine Germanic - Istvaeonic peoples: Franks, others
  Elbe Germanic - Herminonic/Irminonic peoples: Suebes/Alemanni, Swabians, Hermunduri/Thuringians, Marcomanni, Quadi, Bavarians, others
East Germanic peoples:
  East Germanic - Vandilic peoples: Goths, Burgundians, Vandals, Gepids, Rugii, Buri, Herules, others

East Germanic peoples (Vandilians)[]

Map 4: Gothic associated regions and archaeological cultures.
  Götaland
  the island of Gotland
  Wielbark culture in the early 3rd century
  Chernyakhov culture, in the early 4th century
  Roman Empire
  • Avarpi
  • Burgundians / Burgundiones / Burgundes / Burgodiones (? may have been a variant of Burgundiones with the "B" as an "F" Furgundiones > Frugundiones) (? may have been a variant of Burgundes without the initial "B" (B)urugundes > Urugundes, i.e. the Burgundians) (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they founded the Burgundian Kingdom) (Burgundians or part of them may have dwelt in Bornholm island for a time - old name of the island was Borgundarholm) (they were assimilated by the Gallo-Roman majority, however their ethnonym was the origin for the name of the region Burgundy - Bourgogne): Nibelungs (Old German) / Niflung (Old Norse), clan that was the Burgundian royal house known as Gibichungs (Old German) or Gjúkings (Old Norse)
  • Goths / Gothones / Gutones / Gautae / Geats
    • Gepids
    • Goths / Hreidgoths
      • Greuthungi (direct ancestors or an older name of the Ostrogoths)
        • Ostrogoths / Hreiðgoths (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Pannonia, northern Illyria and Italia) (they were assimilated by the majority)
          • Crimean Goths (existed as a people until 16th and 17th centuries in southern Crimea Peninsula or Taurida Peninsula) (they were later assimilated by Crimea Germans, Black Sea Germans, Crimean Greeks and Crimean Tatars)
      • Thervingi (direct ancestors or an older name of the Visigoths)
        • Visigoths (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they founded the Visigothic Kingdom in Southern Gaul and Hispania) (they were assimilated by the Hispano-Roman majority)
  • Herules, East Germanic (East Germanic Herules)
    • East Herules
    • West Herules
  • Lemovii (=Turcilingi?) (also probably identical with Widsith's Glommas, Glomma or Glomman was the singular form)
  • Lugians (Longiones?) (=Vandals?)
    • Buri (Lugi Buri) (part of the Buri accompanied the Suebi in their invasion of Hispania, the Iberian Peninsula, and established themselves in a mountainous area of modern northern Portugal in the 5th century. They settled in the region between the rivers Cávado and , in the area known as Terras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri) - Bouros = Buri - Buros in the masculine accusative Latin declension)
    • Diduni (Lugi Diduni) / Dunii / Duni (Δοῦνοι - was the Greek variant of the Latin name)
    • Harii
    • Helisii / Elysii / Helusii / Hellusii
    • Manimi / ? / ? (?) (the may have been the same as the Manimi)
    • Marsigni
    • Vandals / Vandilii (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they migrated towards West allied with a Sarmatian Iranian people, the Alans, and founded the Vandalic Kingdom first in the Southern and Western regions of Hispania, Iberian Peninsula, the Hasdingi Vandals, settled in Gallaecia, the Silingi vandals settled in Baetica, roughly today's Andalusia; sometime after many left Hispania, and migrated to North Africa) (they were assimilated by the Hispano-Roman majority in Hispania, however their ethnonym was the origin for the name of the region Andalusia - (V)andalusia and for the Arabic name of Hispania and the Iberian Peninsula - Al-Andalus) (they were assimilated by the Berber majority and in North Africa, including the Moors, in the narrow sense, the descendants of the Mauri)
      • Asdingi / Astingi / Hasdingi (Haddingjar?)
      • Helvecones / Helveconae / Aelvaeones / Elouaiones (possibly the and Eolas[8] of Widsith; Eolas was the nominative plural and Eolum the dative plural)
      • Lacringes / Lacringi
      • Nahanarvali
      • Silingi (same as the Nahanarvali?) (at one point they lived in Silesia, and the name of this region could be derived from their ethnonym as well as, although indirectly, Andalusia - (V)andal-usia, where Silingi Vandals initially settled in Hispania)
      • Victohali / Victuali / Victabali
  • Rugi / Rugii / / Ulmerugi / Variant Latin name for the Rugians: Rugiclei? / Greek names and variants for the Rugians: /
  • Sciri
  • (may have been the same as the Silingi)
  • Turcilingi / (may have been ancestors of part of the Thuringians)
  • Vidivarii
  • /

North Germanic peoples (Norsemen)[]

Map 5: Possible map of Scandza, with a selection of tribes
Map 6: Relief map of the Faroe Islands.
Map 7: Travels of the first Scandinavians in Iceland during the ninth century AD or CE, Settlement of Iceland time.
Map 8: A map of the Eastern Settlement on Greenland, covering approximately the modern municipality of Kujalleq. Eiriksfjord (Erik's fjord) and his farm Brattahlid are shown, as is the location of the bishopric at Garðar, Greenland.
  • East North Germanic (East Scandinavians)
    • Ahelmil
    • Aviones / Chaibones / (more probably they lived in Öland island, southeastern Sweden, and not in Jutland Peninsula)
    • Bergio
    • Brondingas / Brondingar (Brondings) (East North Germanic tribe that lived in the island of Brännö, west of Gothenburg in the Kattegatt)
    • Danes (Germanic tribe): Scyldingas (Skjöldungar) clan
    • Dauciones
    • Eunixi
    • Evagreotingis / Evagres
    • Favonae
    • Fervir (in )
    • Finnaithae (old name for Finnveden, the name derives from an old Germanic word for hunters - finn, they were not necessarily Finnic or Saami) (they lived in Finnveden, Western Småland)
    • Firaesi / Phiraisoi
    • / ( / ) (East North Germanic tribe that dwelt in today's Gävleborg County)
    • Goths, Scandinavian (Scandinavian Goths)
      • Geats / Gautigoths, Scandinavian (Scandinavian Gautigoths) / Gautae
      • Ostrogothae, Scandinavian (Scandinavian Ostrogoths): Wulfings / Ylfings clan
      • Gutes / Gotlanders / Vagoths / Valagoths
    • Hallin / Hilleviones? (possibly they lived in Halland and were the same as the tribe called Hallin by Jordanes)
    • / () (East North Germanic tribe that lived in Hälsingland)
    • Herules, Scandinavian (Scandinavian Herules / Erules)
    • Hocings (tribe or clan of Hnæf, son of Hoc Healfdene - Hoc, the Half Dane, mentioned by Widsith, may have been the same chieftain known as Haki by the Norsemen, mentioned in the Ynglinga Saga)
    • /
    • Liothida
    • Mixi
    • Njars
    • Sitones
    • (in Södermanland)
    • Suiones / Sviones / Suehans / Suetidi / Suetides (ancient Swedes) (Svíar): Wægmunding clan; Ynglings / Scylfings clan (Scylfingas / Skilfingar)
      • (in Västmanland) (Svionic tribe that lived to the west of Uppland) (not to be confused with the Vestmenn - Old Norse word for the Gaels of Ireland and Britain)
    • (in Småland)
    • Theustes
    • Vinili / Winnili / Vinoviloth (Scandinavian Lombards or Longobards or Langobards): Hundingas / Hundings clan?
    • Normans - they were formed by the merger and assimilation of a North Germanic minority (that mainly came from Denmark - East North Germanics, but also Norway, and Iceland - West North Germanics) and Frankish (West Germanic) minority with a Gallo-Roman majority, ethnogenesis of the native people inhabiting Normandy, in France
  • West North Germanic (West Scandinavians)
    • Adogit / Halogit / Háleygir (they lived in Hålogaland) (northernmost Germanic tribe)
    • Arothi ("Arochi")
    • Augandii / Augandzi (Egðir) / Augandxii (in Agder, southern Norway)
    • Chaedini / Chaedenoi (possibly in Hedemark / Hedmark)
    • (possibly a tribe that lived inland, in the valleys of Dalen, Telemark, Tokke, Telemark, many of the counties were based on older tribal lands or territories)
    • /
    • (tribe that lived in today's Sogn og Fjordane county, Firdafylke was one of two historic counties, many of the counties were based on older tribal lands or territories)
    • Granni /
    • / (Chaideinoi / Haednas) (in Hedmark, Norway)
    • Horðar (in Hordaland, known before as Hordafylke, many of the counties were based on older tribal lands or territories) (not originating from the Charudes/Harudes in Jutland)
    • (name means "rings", from hring - "ring")
    • / [9]
    • /
    • Ragnaricii / Aeragnaricii
    • Rani / Ranii / Renir
    • Raumarici / Raumariciae / Raumar (Heatho-Reams of Widsith) (they lived in today's Romerike)
    • Rugi, Scandinavian (Scandinavian Rugi) / Rygir (Holmrygir of Widsith)
    • Taetel
    • / ( of Widsith) (West North Germanic tribe that possibly dwelt in Trøndelag)
    • (mentioned by Widsith as a tribe ruled by Holen, possibly from Holen)
    • Old Faroese / Old Faroe Islanders (formed by the merger of several West North Germanic tribes with the addition of Celtic Gaels that settled in the Faroe islands)
    • Old Icelanders (formed by the merger of several West North Germanic tribes with the addition of Celtic Gaels that settled in Iceland) (they were organized in clans in the Icelandic Commonwealth - Icelandic clans: Ásbirningar; Haukdælir; Oddaverjar; Sturlungar; Svínfellingar; Vatnsfirðingar)
      • Greenland Norsemen (mainly descendants from Old Icelanders that settled in Norse Greenland)
  • Vikings (in the Western Europe) / Varangians (in the Eastern Europe) (generic word for warriors, marauders and traders of Scandinavian or Norse i.e. North Germanic origin that went to or returned from other lands regardless of the tribe, they were not a specific Norse tribe or a Norse ethnic group, their arising in History is called Viking Age) (they contributed to the formation of the Rus’ people and Kievan Rus' loose federation that was ruled by the Varangian Rurik dynasty) / Ascomanni (name for the Vikings by Adam of Bremen)

West Germanic peoples[]

Map 9: Depiction of Magna Germania in the early 2nd century including the location of many ancient Germanic peoples and tribes (by Alexander George Findlay 1849)
Map 10: Early Roman Empire with some ethnic names in and around Germania
Map 11: Suebic migrations across Europe.
Map 12: Lombard migration from Scandinavia
Map 13: Old Saxony. The later stem duchy of Saxony (circa 1000 AD), which was based in the Saxons' traditional homeland bounded by the rivers Ems, Eider and Elbe. Saxon tribes (after later Saxon expansion) and their lands are also shown.
Map 14: Migration of Angles, Saxons and Jutes towards Britannia, today's England, and their settlement in the 5th and 6th centuries AD.
ElmetHatfield ChaseKingdom of LindseyPecsaetanMerciaSpaldingNorth & South GyrwaWreocensæteSweordoraMagonsæteKingdom of East AngliaArosæteRiver IvelHitchinHwicceCharlburyCilternsæteKingdom of EssexKingdom of KentWessexKingdom of SussexIsle of Wightinsert description of map here
Map 15: The tribes of the Tribal Hidage. Where an appropriate article exists, it can be found by clicking on the name.
Map 16: Subdivisions of Mercia, almost all of them matched Middle Anglian individual tribes or groups of tribes, except for the Middle Saxons, see Tribal Hidage.
Map 17: Approximate location of the original Frankish tribes in the 3rd century (in green).
Map 18: Salian settlement in Toxandria in 358 where Julian the Apostate made them dediticii.
  Roman Empire
  Salian Franks
  Germanic tribes east of the Rhine
  • Elbe Germanics (Herminones / Hermiones / Irminones)
    • Baemi-Baenochaemae
    • Bateinoi
    • (ancient Germanic tribe, not to be confuse with the Calucones, a Rhaetian tribe)
    • Caritni / Carini
    • Chatti-Mattiaci (originally they were an Elbe Germanic people later assimilated by the Istvaeones or Wesser-Rhine peoples, it was by the merger of the Istvaeones tribes with the Chatti and related tribes that the Franks were formed)
    • Chasuarii / Hasuarii (closely related or not to the Chatti)
    • Chattuarii / Attoarii / Hattuarii / Hetware (possibly mentioned in Beowulf as Hetwaras) (they lived in or ) (closely related or not to the Chatti)
    • Cherusci (some were assimilated by the Mainland Saxons to the north)
    • Fosi
    • /
    • Suebes / Suebi or Alemanni (synonymous with the Suebes in the broad sense) (large tribal confederation)
      • Brisgavi
      • Bucinobantes
      • /
      • Corconti
      • Hermunduri
        • Armalausi
        • (tribe on the river Cham or Chamb, tributary of the Regen, close to Cham city)
        • Vangiones / / Woingas (of Widsith)
        • Thuringians (Thuringii / Toringi) (formed by the merging of Hermunduri tribes, a tribal confederation part of the Elbe Germanic peoples) (some Turcilingi or Torcolingi were assimilated to the Thuringians) (some Thuringians joined the Longobardian migration towards south)
          • [10] (a late Thuringian tribe that lived in Grabfeld)
      • Lentienses
      • Lombards / Langobards / Longobards (Vinili) (Elbe Germanic Lombards) (they lived in Lüneburg Heath) (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they founded the Lombard Kingdom) (they were assimilated by the majority, however their ethnonym was the origin for name of the region Lombardy - Lombardia)
      • Marcomanni
        • Baiuvarii (Bavarians)
      • Quadi / Coldui / Danube Suebi
        • Old Swabians (Danube Suebi that migrated westward) (they had a close relation with the Upper Rhine Alemanni and were descendants from common ancestors but they migrated in an East towards West migration route through the Danube from what is today's Moravia and from there from the Elbe basin in even older times, until they settled in Swabia) (ancestors of Swabian German speakers)
        • Suebi, Gallaecian (Gallaecian Suebi) (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they founded the Kingdom of the Suebi in Gallaecia, Northwestern Iberian Peninsula, roughly in today's Galicia, North Portugal and North Central Portugal, Asturias and León) (Suevos)
      • /
      • Raetovari
      • (a Germanic tribe that dwelled across the eastern region of the Rhine river and was part of the Suebic tribal confederation, mentioned by Julius Caesar)
      • Semnones
        • Iuthungi / Juthungi (descendants of the Semnones)
      • Suarines / Suardones (they may have lived in Schwerin region)
      • Suebi Nicrenses / Suebi, Neckar (Neckar Suebi) / / Upper Alemanni (Upper Rhine Alemanni, ancestors of Alemannic German speakers - Alemanni in the narrow sense) (they had a close relation with the Old Swabians and were descendants from common ancestors but they migrated in a direct North towards South migration route from the Elbe basin until they settled in Alemannia or Alamannia and Eastern Upper Burgundy, roughly in today's Western and Western Central - Neckar river basin, Baden, Alsace, Lake Constance - Bodensee region, and Central Switzerland): Ahalolfings or Alaholfings
      • /
      • Triboci
      • Varisti / Varisci / Narisci / Naristi
      • [11] / / /
    • /
    • Varini / Warini / (may have been the same as the Varini, a variant name in Greek) / Viruni / ? or Oúírounoi (possibly a mistaken transliteration of the Greek Ούίρουνοι = Oúírounoi - Viruni in Latin) / Warni / Viruni / ? / ? (may have been the same as the Varini or Viruni)
  • North Sea Germanics (Ingaevones / Ingvaeones)
    • Ambrones (possibly the / / of Widsith, tribe that dwelt in Jutland or in the Emmer (Ambriuna) river region; also they could have lived in the Island of Amrum, in the Atlantic coast, or in the island of Imbra, now known as Fehmarn, in the Baltic coast)
    • Ampsivarii / Amsivarii
    • Angles / Anglies
    • Anglevarii / Angrivarii (Angrarii / Angarii) (later assimilated by the Saxons)
    • Angrivarii (Angrarii / Angarii) (later assimilated by the Saxons)
    • (possibly a North Sea Germanic tribe mentioned by Strabo, he wrote that they lived close to the Ocean - the North Sea, they are mentioned along with North Sea Germanic tribes - Ingaevones)
    • Chali / Hallinger
    • Charudes / Harudes / Arochi
    • (possibly a North Sea Germanic tribe mentioned by Strabo, he wrote that they lived close to the Ocean - the North Sea, they are mentioned along with North Sea Germanic tribes - Ingaevones)
    • Chauci
      • Chauci Maiores
      • Chauci Minores / ()
    • Cherusci (some were assimilated by the Mainland Saxons)
    • Cobandi
    • Cimbri / Cymbri
    • Dulgibini / Dulgubnii
    • Eudoses / Eutes / Euthiones (ancestors of the Jutes or a variant name of "Jutes"; Eutes > Iutes > Yutes > Jutes) (? possibly a variant of the name "Eudoses")
      • Jutes
        • Island Jutes (in England they merged with the Angles and Saxons to form the new ethnolinguistic group of the Anglo-Saxons)
        • Mainland Jutes (later assimilated by the Danes in Jutland, today's Mainland Denmark)
    • Frisii
    • (a Germanic tribe that lived in Jutland)
    • (a tribe mentioned by the Massiliot Greek sea traveler and explorer Pytheas in his work - The Ocean that possibly lived in Jutland)
    • (Haelethan) (tribe that lived near the Randers Firth in North Jutland)
    • Nuithones / Nuitones
    • /
    • Saxons (Old Saxons)
      • Island Saxons / Insular Saxons (in England they merged with the Angles and Jutes to form the new ethnolinguistic group of the Anglo-Saxons)
      • Mainland Saxons / Continental Saxons (the variants Ga, Gao, Gau, Gabi, Go, Gowe, Gouw, Ge were the word for Gau - Old Saxon or Old Low German and Old High German term equivalent of the English Shire, regional administration, many times they matched a tribal land or territory, Old English had some traces, some Germanic cognates like Ga / Gа̄ or Ge, of this meaning which was ousted by Old English Scire - Shire, from an early time)
        • (same as the Angrivarii or Angarii)
        • Myrgingas / Myrgings (tribe of Widsith, the wandering bard)
        • Later Saxons (after merger and assimilation of several North Sea Germanic and Elbe Germanic peoples and tribes)
          • Nordalbingi (Nordalbingians) / Nordliudi / (North of the Elbe, called before Alba or Albis river, in Holstein) (the original land of the Saxons) (their land included the Limes Saxonicus and the Danish March)
            • Holtsaetan / Holtsaeten / Holtsati / Holsatians / Holcetae (Holt Saetan - "Forest / Wood Settlement" or "Forest / Wood Settlers" - from which Holstein originate its name, and not from "Forest Stone"[12]) (a Nordalbingian tribe, North of the Elbe river, part of the Saxon tribal confederation)
            • /
            • ( / )
          • / (same as the Angrivarii or Angarii) (in Angaria) (in the plain of Old Saxony south of the Elbe and along Weser river valley)
            • / (lived in Agradingo / Agradingo go)
            • (they lived in or )
            • (they lived in / )
            • (in Hessa) (a North Hessian tribe assimilated by the Mainland Saxons)
            • (they lived in or )
            • / (they lived in / )
            • (they lived in or )
            • (they lived in Lidbekegowe or )
            • (they lived in or )
            • (they lived in or )
            • / (they lived in or )
            • / (they lived in or )
            • /
            • (in or )
            • / (Bremon, today's Bremen was in their land)
          • (in Phalia) (in the plateau of Old Saxony)
            • (Ostfalahi) (in Eastphalia)
              • / / (they lived in / / Bardengau or Barden Gau)
              • (they lived in Derlingowe or Derlin Gowe - Derlingau or Derlin Gau)
              • / (they lived in / )
              • / / (a Gothic tribe that merged and assimilated to the Saxons) (they lived in or or Gotinga ga)
              • (lived in or )
              • (they lived in or )
              • / (they lived in or )
              • (in ) (a Northern Suebi / Suevi tribe that merged and assimilated to the Saxons)
              • (a Northern Thuringian tribe that merged and assimilated to the Saxons) (lived in or )
              • (they lived in or Salth ga)
            • (Westfalahi / Westfali) (in Westphalia)
              • (they lived in Angeron)
              • (they lived in or )
              • (they lived in Dreini)
              • (they lived in or )
              • (a tribe descendant of the Chamavi / Hamavi, a Rhine-Weser Germanic tribe, one component of the Franks, that was later assimilated by the Mainland Saxons) (they lived in Hamaland or )
              • (they lived in )
              • (lived in or )
              • (lived in or )
          • /
    • Reudigni / Rendingi / Randingi / Rondingas / Rondings / Reudignes / Reudingi / Reudinges
    • /
    • (a Germanic tribe that lived south of the Frisii)
    • Teutones (Teutons)
    • Anglo-Jutes-Saxons (Anglian-Jutish-Saxonian tribes, organized in Tribal Hidages, tribal lands) (new ethnolinguistic group formed by migration toward and settlement of Germanic tribes in Britannia, today's England, and also by assimilation of the conquered British Celts)
      • Angles (Island Angles)
        • Northumbrians (North of the Humber estuary)
          • / (Emmotland in Yorkshire, anciently Aet Eamotum, perhaps also , also in Yorkshire)
          • Beodarsæte (Anglian tribe that lived in Sunderland region)
          • Elmedsætan / Elmetsaete (Elmet)
          • Loidis (Anglian tribe that lived in Leeds region)
        • Southumbrians (South of the Humber estuary)
          • East Angles / (in East Anglia)
            • (Anglian tribe that lived in Cambridge region)
            • (Anglian tribe that lived in Icklingham region)
            • (Anglian tribe - "North folk" of East Anglia that lived in Norfolk region)
            • (Anglian tribe - "South folk" of East Anglia that lived in Suffolk region)
          • Middle Angles / (in Mercia, roughly today's Midlands)
            • East Middle Angles / Middle Angles Proper (roughly in today's Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and South Oxfordshire)
              • / (part of south Lincolnshire)
              • Cilternsæte / Cilternsætan (Settlers of Chiltern Hills – Middle Anglian tribe or clan)
              • (Settlers of river Dorn – Middle Anglian tribe or clan)
              • / / (Charlbury and near Thame)
              • / (River Ivel, near Bedford)
              • Gyrwas / Gyrwe (Angle tribe or clan that dwelt in the fen) (in the Fens) (near Peterborough region)
              • / (around today's Hitchin)
              • (River Ivel, near Bedford)
              • / Spaldingas (Anglian tribe that lived in Spalding region)
              • (Whittlesey Mere)
              • (near Stamford)
              • /
                • /
                • /
            • Lindisfaras (Anglian tribe that lived in Tribal Hidage, Lindsey and North Lincolnshire)
              • Gaininingas / Gaini (Gainsborough, Lincolnshire)
              • (an outlier tribe that lived in the Lindisfarne island and region in the Northumbrian coast)
            • Mercians / Mercians Proper (they founded the Kingdom of Mercia, with Mercian conquests of other Middle Angles in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, "Mercian" and "Middle Angles" became almost synonymal)
              • North Mercians (the Mercians dwelling north of the River Trent, roughly in today's East Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire)
                • Reagesate (Anglian tribe that lived in Repton)
                • Snotingas (Anglian tribe that occupied the settlement of Snottengaham or Snodengaham - modern Nottingham, Nottinghamshire)
              • (the Mercians dwelling south of the River Trent, roughly in today's South Staffordshire and North Warwickshire)
                • Beormingas (Anglian tribe that lived in Birmingham region)
                • Bilsaete (Bilston)
                • Pencersaete (Penkridge)
                • Tomsaete (Tamworth, Staffordshire)
              • (an early phase of Mercian expansion, possibly 6th century AD, roughly in today's South Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and North Oxfordshire)
                • (Anglian tribe that lived in Undaium region, modern-day Oundle, in Northamptonshire)
            • Pecsæte / Pecsætan (Anglian tribe that lived in today's Peak District, roughly in North Derbyshire)
              • (Derbyshire)
            • Hwiccians / Hwincas (Hwicce) (roughly in today's Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and South Warwickshire)
              • Arosæte / Arosaetan (in and around today's Droitwich Spa, Tribal Hidage)
              • (Dudley)
              • Husmerae (Kidderminster)
              • Stoppingas (Anglian tribe that lived in Wootton Wawen and the valley of the River Alne in modern-day Warwickshire)
              • Weorgoran (Worcester)
              • Magonsæte / Magonsætan (roughly in today's Herefordshire and South Shropshire)
                • (Ludlow)
                • (Hereford)
              • Wreocensæte (Wrekinsets) (Wrēocensǣte, Wrōcensǣte, Wrōcesǣte, Wōcensǣte, Wocansaete) (Anglian tribe that lived in Tribal Hidage) (roughly in today's Northern Shropshire, Flintshire and Cheshire)
                • (in and around Chester)
                • (in and around Wroxeter, Shropshire)
              • Tribes of the Land Between Ribble and Mersey (Anglian tribes that lived in what is today's Merseyside, in the Mersey Valley Land, today's Manchester and Liverpool region - Greater Manchester, and in south of the Ribble Valley Land, today's South Lancashire, roughly today's Lancashire) (a disorganized region under Mercian control from the 7th century AD)
      • Jutes (Island Jutes)
        • Cantwara / Centingas ( / Kentish Men, in Cantwarena Tribal Hidage, Kent)
          • (Jute tribe that lived in and Newenden region in Kent)
          • (Jute tribe that lived in Canterbury region)
          • (Jute tribe that lived in Rochester, Kent region)
          • (Jute tribe that lived in Sandwich, Kent region)
          • Limenwara
          • (Dwellers of Romney Marsh, Kent)
        • Wihtwara (Wight Islanders) ( Tribal Hidage) (in the Isle of Wight)
          • Meonwara / Meonware / Meonsæte (south-east Hampshire and Southampton, mainly on the Meon valley)
          • Ytenesæte (Jute tribe that lived in what is today's New Forest)
      • Saxons (Island Saxons)
        • East Saxons (East Secsenas) (in Essex)
        • Middle Saxons (in Middlesex, roughly in what is today's Greater London, Hertfordshire, Surrey)
          • (Bedfordshire)
          • [13]
            • Gillingas (Saxon tribe or clan that lived in today's Ealing, West End, London)
          • Gumeningas (Saxon tribe or clan that lived in today's Harrow on the Hill, West End, London)
          • Hakas (Saxon tribe that lived in Hackney, London)
          • / (gā is cognate of Gau) (Berkshire / Thames Valley Saxons)
          • Padendene (Saxon tribe or clan that lived in Pæding-tun, modern-day Paddington, London)
          • (ge is cognate of Gau) (Surrey)
            • (Effingham)
            • (Godalming)
            • / (Somewhere in Surrey)
            • (Tooting)
            • (Woking)
        • South Saxons (South Saxons') (Sussex)
        • West Saxons (in Wessex)
  • Wesser-Rhine Germanics (Istvaeones)
    • Baetasii / Betasii
    • Bructeri / Bructeres / Bructuarii / ?[10] (a possible changed name of Bructeri)
    • Chamavi / Hamavi (they lived in the region today called Hamaland, in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands, between the IJssel and Ems rivers)
    • Cugerni
    • Gamabrivii / Gambrivii
    • / Landi
    • Sicambri / Sigambres / Sugambri
    • Salii / Salians (before formation of the Franks) (originally they only inhabited the northern Low Rhine area, in Salland) (later, those that stayed in Salland, were conquered and assimilated by the Saxons)
    • Sunici / Sunuci
    • Tencteri (etymology of the tribe's name is Celtic)
    • Tubantes / Tuihanti
    • Ubii
    • Usipetes / Usipii / Vispi (etymology of the tribe's name is Celtic)
    • Franks / Hugones (formed by the merging of Wesser-Rhine Germanic tribes - Istvaeones tribes and by the merging and assimilation of the Chatti and related tribes) (at the time of the Migration Period and Decline of the Roman Empire, they founded the Frankish Kingdom) (those living in what is today's West Central Germany and the Low Countries, mainly Ripuarian Franks, are the ancestors of the Franconian Germans (traditionally they spoke Franconian languages) and many of the Dutch, those living in what is today's France, mainly Salian Franks, were assimilated by the Gallo-Roman majority, however their ethnonym was the origin for another ethnonym "French" of the French people)
      • Ripuarian Franks (originally Rhine river banks Franks, Eastern Austrasia Franks, Rhineland Franks in Rhineland, Hesse, Palatinate and also in Upper Franconia, that before was Thuringian)
        • /
        • (late Frankish tribe that lived in Lahngau, west of Taunus Mountains)
        • [10] (Nister Franks? Diemel Franks?) (a late Frankish tribe)
        • (late Frankish tribe)
        • (originally it was a Thuringian region before Frankish conquest)
        • (late Frankish tribe that lived in around Wetter river or Wetterau, east of the Taunus Mountains)
      • Salian Franks (originally they inhabited the northern Low Rhine area, specifically today's Salland, later they expanded in the Low Countries, and most stayed there; even later, many migrated outside Eastern Austrasia, that included Rhineland, and beyond Silva Carbonaria and the Arduenna Silva, outside the original area of Frankish settlement where Gallo-Romans were the majority, scattered throughout the territory of the Kingdom of the Franks, roughly today's France, especially the northern regions, Western Austrasia and Neustria, they were later assimilated by the Gallo-Roman majority) (later, those that stayed in Salland, were conquered and assimilated by the Saxons)
        • (Salian Franks that stayed in the Low Rhine region of Eastern Austrasia, later known as the Low Countries, ancestors of many of the Dutch and Flemish)
        • Western Austrasian Franks (in Western Austrasia, out of the Frank majority regions)
        • Neustrian Franks (in Neustria or Neustrasia, out of the Frank majority regions)

Germanic peoples or tribes of unknown ethnolinguistic kinship[]

Eight tribes or peoples are only mentioned by the Old Mainland Saxon wandering bard, of the Myrgingas tribe, named Widsith - ; ; (they are differentiated from the Danes); ; ; or ; and (not to be confused with Secgan, short name for the work in Old English called On the Resting-Places of the Saints about saints' resting places in England).

Ancient peoples with partially Germanic background[]

  • Map 19: Regions of Scotland and Isle of Man settled by the Norse. Ethnogenesis of the Norse-Gaels.

  • Map 20: Regions of Ireland settled by the Norse. Ethnogenesis of the Norse-Gaels.

Germano-Celtic[]

  • Norse-Gaels (Austmenn - "Eastmen" - "People of the East", people who had come from the East - Scandinavia; Gaels of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man were called Vestmenn - "Westmen" - "People of the West" - British Islands) (people of mixed Gaelic and Norse ancestry and culture that was formed in the Viking Age)
    • Norn people (Norðr - People of the North Islands)
    • Sodor people (Hebridians-Manese Norse-Gaels) (Sodor - People of the South Islands)
      • Hebridians Norse-Gaels
        • Outer Hebridians Norse-Gaels
        • Inner Hebridians Norse-Gaels
      • Man Norse-Gaels
    • Ireland Norse-Gaels
      • Dublin Norse-Gaels
      • Wexford Norse-Gaels
      • Waterford Norse-Gaels
      • Cork Norse-Gaels
      • Limerick Norse-Gaels

Germano-Slavic[]

  • Osterwalde (a Mainland Saxon tribe living in the same land and in close contact with the Drevani = "Wood" or "Wood Tribe", the and the or = "White Earth" or "White Earth Tribe" Slavic tribes of the Obodrite confederacy that lived scattered in the west banks of the Elbe river, part of the Polabian Slavs or Elbe Slavs, West Slavs) (they lived in Oster Walde / Osterwalde - "Eastern Woods" in the Old Mainland Saxon view) (Osterwalde and Luneburg Heath also matched the land where the Langobards lived for a time before most of them migrated towards South) (mostly in today's Lower Saxony, in the Hanoverian Wendland, Germany)
  • Rus’ people, of Kievan Rus', loose federation that was ruled by the Varangian Rurik dynasty (they were formed by a mainly East Norse or East North Germanic minority, the Varangians, that came from coastal eastern Sweden or coastal Svealand, around the 8th century AD, from Roslagen in Sweden or Roden, that was assimilated by the East Slavic majority)

Ancient peoples of uncertain origin with possible Germanic or partially Germanic background[]

Mixed peoples that had some Germanic component[]

Celtic-Germanic-Iranian[]

  • Bastarnae, an ancient people who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited the region between the Carpathian Mountains and the river Dnieper, to the north and east of ancient Dacia, possibly they were originally a Celtic tribe later mixed with Germanics and Sarmatians (a group of ancient Iranian peoples) - one possible origin of the name is from Avestan and Old Persian cognate bast- "bound, tied; slave" (cf. Ossetic bættən "bind", bast "bound") and Proto-Iranian *arna- "offspring")
    • /
    • Peucini / Peucini Bastarnae (a branch of the Bastarnae that lived in the region north of the Danube Delta) (? possibly a variant of the name "Peucini")

Possible Germanic or non-Germanic peoples[]

Germanic or Slavic[]

  • Vistula Veneti / Venedi (more probably a Balto-Slavic people)

Germanic or Celtic[]

  • Anartes (more probably a Celtic tribe later assimilated by Dacians)
  • (originally Celtic, assimilated by Germanics)
  • Cotini / Gotini (more probably a Celtic tribe)
  • ,[14] their name was based on a river called Dala in older times (early name of the Veragri, a probable Gallic tribe located in present-day Switzerland, in the Valais canton, however there is the possibility, according to Livy, that they were a half Germanic tribe)
  • Germani Cisrhenani / Tungri? (a collective name for 7 tribes) (names’ etymologies of many of the tribes were Celtic; Belgic people? Chiefs anthroponyms were also Celtic)
    • Aduatuci / Atuatuci
    • /
    • Caemani / Paemani
    • Caeraesi / Caeroesi / Caerosi
    • Condrusi
    • Eburones (later Toxandri / Texuandri?)
    • Segni
  • Graioceli (more probably a Celtic tribe)
  • Maeatae / Maiates / Maiatae / Maiati / Miathi (probably a Southern Pictish tribal confederation beyond and north the Antonine Wall that lived in the land between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay or parts of what is now Clackmannanshire, Fife and Stirlingshire and also in the Isle of May from the 2nd century AD to the 6th and 7th centuries AD; there is also the possibility, although weaker, that they were of Norse origin)
  • Nemeti / Nemetes / Nemetai (Νεμῆται) (more probably a Celtic tribe by its name Etymology, and Theonyms)
  • Nervii (more probably a Belgic tribal confederation)
  • Treveri (more probably a Belgic tribe)
  • Tylangii (more probably a Celtic tribe related to the Tulingi or descendant from them)

Germanic or Dacian[]

  • Carpi / Carpiani (more probably a Dacian tribe)

Germanic or Iranian[]

  • Taifals (possibly they were a Sarmatian Iranian people assimilated by the Goths, before the Goths settled in what is today the steppe area of Ukraine, including Crimea, in the 2nd century AD, this area was inhabited by the Sarmatians)

Germanic or Balto-Finnic[]

  • / [8] (more probably a Livonian tribe, called by Henricus Lettus or Henricus de Lettis or Heinrich von Lettland, who wrote the Chronicon Livoniae or Livonian Chronicle of Henry)
  • Kvenir[15] / Kvænir mentioned in Egils Saga / Kvanes / Cwenas mentioned by Ohthere[15] (more probably they were the Kainulaiset, that dwelt in Kvenland, a probable reference to Saami peoples also called Scridefinnas / Screrefennae or speakers of a related Uralic language) (over time their name became confused with the Old Norse word kván or kvæn - "woman", genitive plural kvenna, and became mistakenly confused with the legendary Amazons, a mythical all-women tribe that had relations with the Gargareans, a mythical all-men tribe)

Mythical founders[]

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.
Further information: Eponymous ancestor

Many of the authors relating ethnic names of Germanic peoples speculated concerning their origin, from the earliest writers to approximately the Renaissance. One cross-cultural approach over this more than a millennium of historical speculation was to assign an eponymous ancestor of the same name as, or reconstructed from, the name of the people. For example, Hellen was the founder of the Hellenes.

Although some Enlightenment historians continued to repeat these ancient stories as though fact, today they are recognised as manifestly mythological. There was, for example, no Franko, or Francio, ancestor of the Franks. The convergence of data from history, linguistics and archaeology have made this conclusion inevitable. A list of the mythical founders of Germanic peoples follows.

  • Angul — Angles (the Kings of Mercia, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, other Anglo-Saxon dynasties are derived from other descendants of Woden)
  • Ask — Istvaeones
  • Aurvandil — Vandals
  • Burgundus — Burgundians (Historia Brittonum)
  • Dan — Danes (Chronicon Lethrense)
  • — Franks (Liber Historiae Francorum)
  • Gothus — Goths/Geats/Gutes
  • Ingve — Ingvaeones, Ynglings
  • — Irminones
  • Mannus — Manni, or "men", a name fragment as in the later Alemanni (Germania)
  • Nór — Norwegians (Chronicon Lethrense)
  • Seaxnēat — Saxons

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Heinrich Beck et al. (editor): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. volume 36/37 (register volume 1 and 2): Authors, keywords, subject index, abbreviations, 2nd edition. de Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-019146-2, p. 20 ff.; "PDF; 499 kB" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-21.. In: degruyter.com, Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  2. ^ Tacitus, Germania 28; Strabo 4, 3, 4.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Cornelius Tacitus: Germania. Transmitted and explained by Arno Mauersberger. VMA-Verlag, Wiesbaden [1981?], p. 142, DNB-IDN 810365324 (Latin, German; licensed edition of Dieterich's publishing house accountant, Leipzig).
  4. ^ Maurits Gysseling: Toponymisch Woordenboek van België, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland. Ghent 1960, DNB-IDN 560536216, p. 956 (kantl.be, Retrieved 5 December 2017; Dutch).
  5. ^ Tacitus, Germania 28.
  6. ^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico book III, 11: […] Treveros, qui proximi flumini Rheno sunt. ("The Treveri who live near the Rhine.")
  7. ^ L. S.: Visbu´rgii. In: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. 2 volumes. Edited by William Smith. Walton and Maberly, John Murray, London 1854, OCLC 1000689106 (perseus.tufts.edu, Retrieved 5 December 2017).
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Muir, Bernard James (1989). Leođ: Six Old English Poems : A Handbook. ISBN 9782881243578.
  9. ^ Muir, Bernard James (1989). Leođ: Six Old English Poems : A Handbook. ISBN 9782881243578.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jedin, Hubert; Dolan, John Patrick (1969). "Handbook of Church History".
  11. ^ Aubenas, Joseph Adolphe (1845). "Revue de bibliographie analytique: Ou Compte rendu des ouvrages scientifiques et de haute litterature".
  12. ^ https://archive.org/stream/englishwords00unkngoog/englishwords00unkngoog_djvu.txt
  13. ^ Wyatt, Louise (15 February 2018). Secret Hayes. ISBN 9781445672212.
  14. ^ Hazlitt, William (1851). "The Classical Gazetteer: A Dictionary of Ancient Geography, Sacred and Profane".
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Jones, Gwyn (2001). A History of the Vikings. ISBN 9780192801340.

References[]

  • Thorsten Andersson: Altgermanische Ethnika. In: Namn och bygd. Tidskrift för nordisk ortnamnsforskning. 97 (2009), ISSN 0077-2704, pp. 5–39 (PDF; 9.7 MB; total year).
  • Otto Bremer: Ethnographie der germanischen Stämme. In: Hermann Paul (editor): Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie. volume 2, part 1: Literaturgeschichte. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Karl Trübner Verlag, Strasbourg 1900, pp. 735–930.
  • : Die Germanen (= Theiss WissenKompakt). Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 3-8062-2036-0.
  • : Namenstudien zum Altgermanischen (= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde – Ergänzungsbände. volume 59). Edited by Heinrich Hettrich, Astrid van Nahl. de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-021044-6, urn:nbn:de:101:1-2016061717834.
  • Rudolf Much: Die Germania des Tacitus. 3rd considerable adult edition. Edited by Wolfgang Lange in collaboration with Herbert Jankuhn and Hans Fromm. Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1967, DNB-IDN 457642858.
  • Rudolf Much: Deutsche Stammeskunde. 3rd verb edition. Scientific association. Publisher, Berlin/Leipzig 1920, DNB-IDN 580772896; outlook Verlag, Bremen 2015, ISBN 978-3-86403-235-6.
  • Heinrich Beck et al. (editor): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. 2nd edition. de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 1972–2008.
  • Hermann Reichert: . Publisher of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1987, ISBN 3-7001-0931-8.
  • Ludwig Rübekeil: Völkernamen Europas. In: Ernst Eichler et al. (editor): Namenforschung. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Onomastik. volume 2, de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 1996, ISBN 3-11-020343-X, pp. 1330–1343.
  • Moritz Schönfeld: Wörterbuch der altgermanischen Personen- und Völkernamen nach der Überlieferung des klassischen Altertums (= Germanische Bibliothek. department 1: Elementar- und Handbücher. series 4: Wörterbücher. volume 2). Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1911, DNB-IDN 362646430; Reprints each as 2nd, unchanged edition: (= Germanische Bibliothek. series 3 [much 2]). Winter, Heidelberg 1965, DNB-IDN 454448473; Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1965, DNB-IDN 454448465.
  • Ernst Schwarz: Germanische Stammeskunde (= Germanische Bibliothek. volume 5). Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1956, DNB-IDN 454606672; reprint: VMA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-938586-10-5.
  • , : Altgermanische Ethnonyme. Ein Handbuch zu ihrer Etymologie. Using a bibliography by Robert Nedoma editor of Hermann Reichert (= . volume 29). Fassbaender, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-902575-07-4.
  • Reinhard Wenskus: Stammesbildung und Verfassung. Das Werden der frühmittelalterlichen gentes. 2nd, unchanged edition. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne/Vienna 1977, ISBN 3-412-00177-5.

External links[]

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