Hedwig (given name)

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]

The Dutch form is Hadewych (Hadewijch). A German and Dutch diminutive is Hedy. The German name was adopted into Swedish in about the 15th century and is still in use in Swedish, and to a lesser extent in Danish and Norwegian, in the spelling Hedvig, with a diminutive Hedda.^[2] 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).

People called Hedwig

Medieval

Hedwiga (d. c. 886), 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), Countess of Mons
Blessed Hadewych of Meer (c. 1150–1200)
Saint Hedwig of Andechs (1174–1243), Duchess of Silesia, canonized 1267; see also Hedwig Codex
Hedwig (wife of Władysław Odonic) (d. 1249)
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 (Jadwiga) (1373–1399), daughter of Louis I of Hungary and ruling queen of Poland, canonized 1997.
Hedwig of Kalisz (1266–1339), wife of the King Władysław I the Elbow-high and mother of Casimir III of Poland and Elisabeth of Poland. Hedwig was daughter of the Duke Bolesław the Pious and the Hungarian Princess Blessed Jolenta.

Renaissance and Early Modern

Hedwig Jagiellon (1457–1502), daughter of the King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland and Elisabeth Habsburg of Hungary. Hedwig was wife of Duke George of Bavaria
Hedwig Jagiellon (1513–1573), daughter of Sigismund I the Old of Poland and his first wife the Hungarian Countess Barbara Zápolya. Hedwig married Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg
Princess Hedwig of Denmark (1581–1641)
Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp (1636–1715), Queen of Sweden from 1654 until 1660
Countess Hedwig Elisabeth of Neuburg (1673–1722)
Queen Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp (1759–1818)

Modern

Hedwig Dohm (1831–1919), German feminist
Hedvig Raa-Winterhjelm (1838–1907), Scandinavian actress
Hedwig Bleibtreu (1868–1958), Austrian actress
Hedwig Dransfeld (1871–1925), German feminist
Hedwig Goebbels (see Goebbels children) (1938-1945)
Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000), Austrian and American actress

Surname

Johann Hedwig, (1730-1799), German botanist
Hugo Hadwiger, Swiss mathematician

Fictional characters

Hedvig is a main character in Henrik Ibsen's play the Wild Duck
Hedwig (Harry Potter), Harry Potter's faithful messenger and pet snowy owl in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical) is an Off-Broadway production about a fictional rock and roll band. The first Broadway production, starring Neil Patrick Harris, took place in spring 2014.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film), film based on the musical
Eduige is a character in the opera Rodelinda by George Frederick Handel.
Hedviga is a character in the opera Guglielmo Tell by Gioacchino Rossini.

References

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