Given name & surname · also Germanic
Hedwig
“suffering strife during war”
Hedwig is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “suffering strife during war.”
Original GermanJadzia
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “suffering strife during war.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Germanic.
How it developed
From German Hedwig, from Old High German Haduwig, from Proto-Germanic *Haþuwīgą, built from Proto-Germanic *haþuz (“fight”) + *wīgą (“battle”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Hedwig through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 3,077
- 0 boys · 3,077 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 159 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 1968. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 159 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,107 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Hedwig’s family of names
Hedwig has an affectionate form in Hedda. Hedwig shares a linguistic root with Jadwiga. Hedwig has a related form in Hedy.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Hedwig has relatives in 31 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Germanic roots to each of them.
40 related names in 31 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 32
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jadziavariant · German, Polish
- Jadwigavariant · German, Polish
- Hedvigvariant · German, Swedish
- Heddavariant · German, Hungarian
- Hedevariant · German
- Jadźavariant · German, Upper Sorbian
- Jadvygavariant · German, Lithuanian
- Hedwichvariant · German, Dutch
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- Hedvikavariant · German, Czech
- Hedvikvariant · German, Norwegian
- Hedvigavariant · German, Slovak
- Hedewigvariant · German, Swedish
- Hedevigvariant · German, Danish
- Hedevivariant · German, Swedish
- Hathwigvariant · German
- Hadwigvariant · German, Old High German
- Haduwyvariant · German
- Hadewijvariant · German, Dutch
- Hadewijchvariant · German, dum
- Hadewigvariant · German, Dutch
- Edwigevariant · German, French
- Edvigevariant · German, Italian
- Hedyvariant
- Hedivariant
- Heddievariant
- Hedwigevariant
- Haduvariant
- Haduwigvariant
- Heddivariant
- Hedavariant
- Hedwigavariant
- Hadvigvariant
Across languages 23
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Hedwig
- Hedy LamarrAustrian-American actress and co-inventor of an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping (1914-2000)
- Hedwig of SilesiaDuchess of Silesia (1174–1243)
- Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorpqueen of Sweden (1636-1715)
- Hedwig RosenbaumBohemian tennis player1864–1939
- Hedwig of Saxonymother of Hugh Capet910–965
- Hedwig Jagiellon, Duchess of BavariaPolish princess (1457-1502)
- Eadgifu of WessexQueen consort of France
- Hedwig KohnGerman-American physicist1887–1964
- Princess Hedwig Sophie of BrandenburgGerman noble (1623-1683)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Hedwig, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“one who is famous in battle”
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