Hedwig (name)

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Hedwig
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameOld High German
Region of originGermany, Austria
Other names
Related namesEdwige, Jadwiga, Hadewijch, Hedvig, Hedda, Hedy

Hedwig is a German feminine given name, from Old High German Hadwig, Hadewig, Haduwig. It is a Germanic name consisting of the two elements hadu "battle, combat" and wig "fight, duel". The name is on record since the 9th century, with Haduwig, a daughter of Louis the German. The name remained popular in German high nobility during the 10th and 11th centuries. Other medieval spellings include Hathuwic, Hathewiga, Hadewich, Hadewic, Hathwiga, Hadwich, Hatwig, Hadwig, Hediwig, Hedewiga, Hedewich, Hedewiih, Hatuuih, Hetvic, Haduwich, Hadawich, Hatuwig, etc. Forms such as Hadiwih, Hadewi etc. suggest that the name is the result of a conflation of two separate names, one with the second element wig "fight", the other with the second element wih "hallowed".[1]

A common German (and also Dutch) diminutive of Hedwig is Hedy. The Dutch form of Hedwig is Hadewych (Hadewijch). The German name was adopted into Swedish (and to a lesser extent into Danish and Norwegian) in about the 15th century and is still in use in Swedish in the spelling Hedvig, with a diminutive Hedda.[2] Finnish forms of name are and Helvi. The German name was adopted into Polish, as Jadwiga. A French form is Edwige (not to be confused with the unrelated Anglo-Saxon Eadwig, Edwig).

Fictional characters[]

People named Hedwig[]

Medieval[]

  • Hedwiga (Hedwig of Babenberg; died c. 886), Duchess of Saxony, mother of Henry the Fowler
  • Hedwige of Saxony (910–965), German noblewoman and mother of Hugh Capet, King of France
  • Hedwig of Nordgau (ca. 922–ca. 993), wife of Siegfried of Luxembourg, first Count of Luxembourg.
  • Hedwig of France (970–1013), also called Avoise, Hadevide or Haltude, Countess of Mons
  • Saint Hedwig of Silesia (1174–1243), Duchess of Silesia, canonized 1267; see also Hedwig Codex
  • Hedwig of Habsburg (d. ca. 1285/86), daughter of Rudolph I of Germany and his first wife, Gertrude of Hohenburg
  • Hedwig of Holstein (1260–1324), Swedish queen consort, spouse of King Magnus III of Sweden
  • Saint Hedwig of Poland (1373–1399), daughter of Louis I of Hungary and ruling queen of Poland

Renaissance and early modern periods[]

Modern era[]

References[]

  1. ^ Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1900:647).
  2. ^ nordicnames.de, citing Kristoffer Kruken and Ola Stemshaug, Norsk Personnamnleksikon (1995); Eva Brylla, Förnamn i Sverige (2004).

See also[]

  • All pages with titles beginning with Hedwig
  • All pages with titles beginning with Hedvig
  • Blessed Hadewych of Meer (c. 1150–1200)
  • Hadewijch, 13th century poet and mystic
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