The study of personal names in the earliest attested period of Greek, the language of the Mycenaean Linear B tablets, is as tantalising as it is difficult despite the fact that the evidential basis itself is quite good. The administrative nature of the documents means that they contain long lists of personnel, as well as many mentionings of individuals in certain roles, i.e. their connection with professions, commodities and livestock. While the exact number of personal names attested in the tablets is not easy to evaluate as we will explore further below, it is commonly said that, so far, we have about 2000 personal names from this period of Greek. In the earliest, and so far only, comprehensive treatment of Mycenaean personal names, Landau identified 1790 completely or partially preserved personal names. New finds and, partly, new interpretations have changed the picture slightly so that Bartoněk reckons with about 1930 personal names (of which ca 1760 are male, 170 female), and likewise García Ramón speaks of “almost 2000 anthroponyms”.