Audovacar

Audovacar (from Proto-Germanic *Audawakraz) is a masculine Germanic name.

Composed of the roots aud- (wealth) and -wakar (awake), it may be translated "warden of riches" or "watchman of property" and is a kenning for lord. The name is attested in many variations. The first root may appear as Aut-, Ad-, Ud-, Od-, Ot- or Oth- and is attested as a name on its own, Aud, in the 3rd century AD. The name Otto is a derivative.

The medieval German form was Ottokar, whence the Czech form Otakar. The Czech name Žiroslav (Polish Żyrosław) has the same meaning. The Greek name Plutarch also means "lord of wealth".

Attested forms

These forms are mentioned in Dopsch 1980.

• Audacar
• Audacrus
• Audaccrus
• Audgarius
• Audagarius

• Autcharius
• Aotackar

• Odowakar
• Odakar
• Odacrus

• Otachar
• Otacar
• Otacarus

• Otgarius
• Otgar
• Otger
• Othgar
• Otkger

Famous people

• Adovacrius (5th century), Saxon leader in Gaul
• Odoacer (d. 493), barbarian king of Italy
• Autchar (8th century), Frankish diplomat
• Eadwacer, character from the 9th-century Old English poem "Wulf and Eadwacer"

Bibliography

• Boiché, Olga Khallieva (2018). "Old English ead in Anglo-Saxon Given Names: A Comparative Approach to Anglo-Saxon Anthroponomy". In Peter Petré; Hubert Cuyckens; Frauke D'hoedt (eds.). Sociocultural Dimensions of Lexis and Text in the History of English. John Benjamins. pp. 15–40. doi:10.1075/cilt.343.01boi.
• Dopsch, Heinz (1980). "Die steirischen Otakare: Zu ihrer Herkunft und ihren dynastischen Verbindungen" (PDF). In Gerhard Pferschy (ed.). Das Werden der Steiermark. Die Zeit der Traungauer. Frestschrift zur 800. Wiederkehr der Erhebung zum Herzogtum. pp. 75–139.