Nicknames comprised only 6% of all bynames, and only 2% of all individuals had a nickname, but they did form an interesting category. Therefore, all 118 persons with a nickname have been presented here: 112 men and 6 women. From the 11th century onwards, nicknames were often registered in Middle Dutch in the (otherwise Latin) scriptures. The translations below are based of the Middle Dutch Dictionary (Middelnederlands Woordenboek, 1998) and on the Dictionary of family names (Debrabandere, 2003).
Locative bynames that referred to a country or region outside the study area have been considered nicknames here. The byname Freso has not been considered a nickname, with one exception: the Flemish count Rotbert married Gerthrude, countess of Frisia, and was therefore called 'the Frisian’.

In the earliest centuries nicknames, like bynames in general, were relatively rare and they occurred mainly among the nobility and the clergy. As much as 90% of the nicknames is from after the year 1000.
Remarkably, about one half of the nicknames came from Flanders, while nicknames were virtually absent in the regions North and East.

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