Hedwig (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]

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 Heta 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).