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Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!
You asked about Old English names beginning with the element <AEthel->. You also asked whether <atte Fen> would be an appropriate 10th-century Old English byname.
In answering these questions we've had to make extensive use of two Old English letters that are not supported in the 7-bit ASCII to which some e-mail is limited. In the next paragraph we've described these letters and how we've represented them in this letter, but the resulting text is still pretty awkward and hard to read. If you have web access, you will probably find the HTML version that we've posted at <http://www.panix.com/~mittle/stgabriel/578.html> much easier to read.
The element <AEthel-> was very common in 10th century Old English names. In the records it appears in a number of spellings, of which the most common uses two letters that are no longer found in English. The first is the 'ash', or 'ae-ligature', a single letter joining <a> and <e> (or <A> and <E>). I will use the symbols '{ae}' and '{AE}' to represent this letter. The other is the letter 'edh' or 'eth', for which I will write '{dh}'. (This letter looks like a <d> with a little bar drawn through the ascender above the loop. The ascender itself is bent over to the left, rather like a backwards <6>.) With these conventions, the most common spelling is <{AE}{dh}el->; <{AE}thel-> also occurs fairly often. [1]
Different Old English names were popular at different times and places. In hopes of approximating typical 10th century usage we have chosen <{AE}{dh}el-> names that were borne by men named in Domesday Boke as having held land in 1066. [2] The most popular seem to have
{AE}{dh}elm{ae}r
{AE}{dh}elric
{AE}{dh}elweard
{AE}{dh}elwig
Others that were borne by several different men are:
{AE}{dh}elbeorht
{AE}{dh}elno{dh}
{AE}{dh}elr{ae}d
{AE}{dh}elsige
{AE}{dh}elstan
{AE}{dh}elweald
{AE}{dh}elwine
{AE}{dh}elwulf
Any of these names would be entirely suitable for a 10th or 11th century persona. These spellings are more or less standard Late West Saxon spellings. This dialect was in quite general written use even in areas where the spoken dialect was quite different, so these spellings are suitable for any part of England. However, spelling was not standardized, and many variants are attested, especially in other dialect areas. For example, <{AE}{dh}elweald> may appear as <{AE}{dh}elwald>, or <{AE}{dh}elbeorht> as <{AE}{dh}elbriht>.
The byname <atte Fen> doesn't quite work as an Old English byname suitable for the 10th century. Bynames similar to this are found in Old English, but this particular form is Middle English, from after the Conquest. As <attefenne>, for instance, it occurs in 1185. [3] However, it is likely that it developed from an Old English <{ae}t {dh}{ae}m Fenne>. Thus, a name like <{AE}{dh}elm{ae}r {ae}t {dh}{ae}m Fenne> would be very suitable for a late pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon persona.
Arval Benicoeur also contributed to this letter. We hope that it has been helpful and that we can continue to assist you if you have further questions.
For the Academy,
Talan Gwynek
[1] Boehler, Maria, _Die altenglischen Frauennamen_ (Nendeln,
[2] Feilitzen, Olof von, _The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book_ (Uppsala: 1937).
[3] Reaney, P.H. & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991).