Much of this page is pure speculation, but I thought it might be interesting to investigate what the designers of Royal Blood/Gemfire may have had in mind when deciding on names.  Of particular interest are many of the names in Royal Blood which were changed - several of them are taken directly from Arthurian legend, and many others are early British and Anglo-Saxon rulers.  Since so many of the names have been changed between translations, I have removed many of the etymological/traditional name meanings which were previously listed on this page, except where they seem directly related to the game.

names from Royal Blood, changed for Gemfire

• Mordred (Adryl):  One of the two most interesting name changes (imho of course).  In Arthurian legend, Mordred is the bastard son of Arthur and his half-sister Morgan.  He is often depicted as the ultimate villain of the Arthurian world, and is said to have claimed the throne for himself while Arthur was still alive (and in some cases, also commits adultery with Guinevere).  Since Royal Blood's Mordred is the son of Eselred, we once again see a betrayal of the father, but in Eselred's case the betrayal is well-deserved.
• Pendragon (Pender):  And the other interesting Arthurian name change (again, imho).  Pendragon is the last name of Uther and Arthur, both high kings of Camelot and true heirs to the throne.  I somehow have to wonder what implications this has for Erin...
• Gawain (Geran):  A knight of the Round Table, primarily known for his battle with the Green Knight. Note that Gawain is Mordred's half-brother according to most legends.
• Geoffrey (Geoff):  The older brother of Richard the Lionheart and John, both kings of England.  More information on Geoffrey can be found in Shakespeare's King John and James Goldman's The Lion in Winter.  (Also, Geoffrey of Monmouth was the writer of The History of the Kings of Britain, one of the first texts to deal extensively with Arthur, Mordred, and Camelot in general.  Just another Arthurian connection for those who care.)
• Lanfrank (Lars):  Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of William the Conqueror, and was noted for his negotiations between church and state and his unwavering loyalty to the king.
• Leofurik (Seth):  Leofric was an Anglo-Saxon earl who was known as a leader in public affairs and a mediator who averted civil war in 1051.  He was the husband of Lady Godiva.
• Redwald (Ander):  King of the East Angles during the early 7th century.  Participated in a decidedly bloodthirsty war against the king of Northumbria in order to ensure the kingship of Edwin, a fugitive he protected, in Northumbria.
• Athelstahn (Aigle):  First West Saxon king to rule over all of England during the 10th century.  Athelstan's rulings against theft and corruption were notable in their inclusion of relief for the poor and lesser punishments for young offenders, and the civil service may have been started during his rule.

unchanged names

• Eselred:  Yes, there really was an Eselred (well, Ethelred, anyway).  Ethelred "the Unready," as he was known, ruled England from 978 to 1013 and 1014 to 1016.  His name is derived from unraed, meaning "evil counsel."  As evidenced by his nickname, Ethelred was considered an ineffective ruler at best, and was unable to prevent the Danes from conquering England.  There was also an Archbishop of Canterbury whose name was Ethelred, as listed.  In addition, there was a king of Mercia and a king of Wessex who were both named Aethelred, an alternate spelling of "Ethelred".  However, these have very few parallels with the Gemfire character.

names from Gemfire, changed from Royal Blood

• Eadric (Edrick, possibly Erdrick):  An alderman during the rule of Ethelred.  He was considered a traitor to England because he sided with the Danes in 1015, and was executed by the Danes because he could not be trusted.
• Gweyn (Meltina):  A diminutive of Guinevere, the wife of Arthur and queen of Camelot.
• Pender (Pendragon):  Although "Pender" is probably just a shortened version of "Pendragon," I still find this alternate derivation interesting.  Penda was a pagan king who ruled Mercia in southern Britain during the 600's.  Among those he defeated was Oswald, a name which also appears in Gemfire (and is unchanged from Royal Blood).
• Oswald:  Ruler of Northumbria from 633 to 641, defeated by Penda.  Note that both Northumbria and Mercia are in close proximity to Anglia, which is one of the provinces in Gemfire.
• Owen:  Perhaps a misspelling of the lesser-known Arthurian knight Owein (also spelled Uwain).

provinces, family names, and miscellany

• The following Gemfire provinces are derived from various British locales:  Anglia, Powice (Powys), Orkney.
• If we go by the translation of Royal Blood, here are some more British province names:  Camelot, Cardiff, Canterbury.
• Brancaster may be a misspelling of Lancaster, and Mashia may be a misspelling of Mercia.
  
• Lankshire may be related to Lancashire.
• And we all know about the lion and the unicorn...