in this article i examine personal names in late (post-Viking) runic in- scriptions in Gotland (1200-1600), trying to point out the differences among them, based on geographical and historical grounds. i found strong conservative features in names on rune-stones lying near churches situated in peripherical and scarcely populated areas (north and south Gotland) such as the presence of the same leds or of allitteration within names belonging to the same family. on the other hand, the central region around Visby shows the development of a new use of names. one crucial element seems to me the influence of the hanseatic merchants and, consequently, of low-German which brought new linguistic and anthroponimic trends to the island, in particular in Visby and its surroundings.