Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from thank- (thought) and -rath (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and especially associated with the Hauteville family in Italy. It is rare today as a first name, but still common as a Norman surname: Tanqueray. Its Italian form is Tancredi and in Latin it is Tancredus. Its Italian patronymic is also Tancredi. Famous historical persons with the name include:
Tancred of Hauteville, founder of the Hauteville family
Tancred, Prince of Galilee, a leader of the First Crusade
Tancred, Prince of Bari, son of Roger II of Sicily, and Prince of Taranto from 1132 to 1138
Tancred, Count of Syracuse
Tancred of Sicily, King of Sicily in the late 12th century
Tancred of Conversano, count of Brindisi
Tancred Tancredi, Dominican friar
Tancred of Bologna, Dominican canonist
Tancred Ibsen, Norwegian officer, pilot, film director and screenwriter.
Fictional characters
Tancred of Salerno, character in Boccaccio's Decameron
Tancred, a character in the Italian epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata, 1581, by Torquato Tasso. He is beloved by Clorinda and Erminia, and often shown in art with one of them
Tancred Torsson, a character in Jenny Nimmo's "Children of the Red King" series
Tancred, a character in the computer game Diablo 2
Tancred, a character in Summoner, known as the "King of Fleas"
