# Hedwig (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/hedwig/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | German |
| Meaning | “fight”, “battle” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɛ.dwɪɡ/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,077 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 3,077 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

From German Hedwig, from Old High German Haduwig, Hadwig, from Proto-Germanic *Haþuwīgą (from *haþuz (“fight”) + *wīgą (“battle”)).

## What it means

Hedwig is grouped under warrior.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 11 | 3,218 |
| 1949 | 12 | 3,065 |
| 1950 | 8 | 4,089 |
| 1951 | 7 | 4,543 |
| 1952 | 15 | 2,857 |
| 1953 | 8 | 4,372 |
| 1954 | 12 | 3,390 |
| 1955 | 11 | 3,648 |
| 1956 | 7 | 5,017 |
| 1958 | 5 | 6,440 |
| 1959 | 6 | 5,816 |
| 1960 | 7 | 5,362 |
| 1962 | 9 | 4,662 |
| 1964 | 6 | 6,280 |
| 1968 | 6 | 6,516 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: هدويغ
- Catalan: Eduvigis
- Chinese: 海德薇
- Czech: Hedvika
- Danish: Hedvig
- Dutch: Hadewig
- Finnish: Heta
- French: Havoise, Edwige
- Georgian: ჰედვიგი
- German: Hedwig
- Hungarian: Hedvig
- Icelandic: Heiðveig
- Italian: Edvige
- Latin: Hedvigis
- Latvian: Jadviga
- Lithuanian: Jadvyga
- Norwegian: Hedvig
- Polish: Jadwiga
- Portuguese: Edviges
- Russian: Ядвига

## People named Hedwig

- Hedwig of Silesia, Duchess of Silesia (1174–1243)
- Hedwig Rosenbaum, Bohemian tennis player
- Hedwig Dohm, German feminist, writer, and opinion journalist (1831–1919)
- Hedwig Kohn, German-American physicist
- Hedwig of Denmark, electress consort of Saxony (1581-1641)
- Hedwig Sophie of Brandenburg, German noble (1623-1683)
- Hedwig of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess consort of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
- Archduchess Hedwig of Austria, Austrian archduchess (1896-1970)
- Hedwig Bleibtreu, Austrian actress (1868–1958)
- Marie Hedwig of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess consort of Saxe-Meiningen
- Hedwig Lachmann, German author, translator and poet (1865-1918)
- Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess consort of Pomerania

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.