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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for our opinion of <John Wolfhunter> as an English name sometime after the year 1000. Here is what we have found.
Your name is almost perfect for your period. Depending on exactly when you want to set your persona in history, we can suggest several different forms that it might have taken.
The given name <John> was introduced to England by the Normans in the late 11th century, but it wasn't spelled that way until somewhat later. The Normans themselves probably spelled the name <Jehan> in their own language, judging from contemporary French literature [1, 2]; but they wrote almost exclusively in Latin, and the name was recorded as <Johannes>. English vernacular records are more common in the 13th and 14th centuries, when we find various spellings of the name [3 s.n. John]:
Jene 1275
Gene 1276 (pronounced the same as the preceding example)
Jone 1279
Jon 1292
Joan 1327 (pronounced in two syllables, just like the next example)
Johan 1379
The spelling <John> first appears in the 14th or possibly the late 13th centuries [3 s.n. John].
The meaning of your byname, <the Wolfhunter>, is identical to that of several period names. The spelling you've chosen is not one that we found in period, and we think it is not a likely spelling: Middle English compound bynames were rarely formed with the suffix <-er>, except for the special case of compounds of <-maker>. We found these men recorded in period [3 s.n. Wolfhunt]:
William le Wlfhunte 1249
Richard le Wulfhunte 1271
Walter le Wolfhunte 1339
In each case, the byname means "the Wolfhunter". <Jone le Wulfhunte> would be a fine 13th century name.
If you want a slightly earlier persona, you could use the equivalent Anglo-Norman byname <Cachelu> (1189) or <Cacheluve> (1208), from the Old French word <cachelove> or <cacheleu>, which means "chase wolf" [3 s.n. Catchlove]. <Jehan Cachelu> would be an excellent 12th century Anglo-Norman name.
I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Margaret Makafee, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Talan Gwynek.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] Joinville, Jean de, _Histoire de Saint Louis_, M. Natalis de Wailly, ed.
(Paris, 1874).
[2] Villehardouin, Geoffroi de, _La conque^te de Constantinople_, Edmond
Faral ed. and trans. (Paris: Societe d'Edition "Les Belles lettres", 1938-39).
[3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995).