Our shire, the Shire of Rockwall, is part of the Principality of Northshield, within the Middle Kingdom. Geographically, we lie between the Baronies of Jararvellir to the west and Caer Anterth Mawr to the east. This means counties, for the smaller groups up to Baronial level, and states, for Principalities and Kingdoms. This persona can be from any culture, any time period before A.D. 1600. There are Japanese, Aztec, Icelandic, Spanish, French, Italian, English, Irish, Scottish, Moorish, Turkish, Frisian the list goes on and on and on.
Some people even choose a persona from the Roman era.
The emphasis tends to be on medieval and Renaissance, but that doesn t mean you can t select something from an earlier period if that s what interests you. Some people even have more than one, and play them according to their mood or the time of year. But, you could use either the given name or the surname, and put another name documented from the same time period with it, to get your SCA name. Many people choose names from their family history, mixed and matched in this way. Once you have an idea of where your persona is from, and what time period you like, then it s time to think about a name.