Hildegarde

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested across 7 languages in the etymology graph.

How Hildegarde is read●(measured from records)

Hildegarde is one spelling over 3 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English70%

  A female given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Hildegard.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• French8.7%

  Origine germanique, signifie «qui sait combattre»; formé avec hild- «combat».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

  Germanique, de hild « combat » + gard « protection, enclos ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• Spanish5.1%

  No dictionary in our sources glosses Hildegarde in Spanish.

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Often considered alongside

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Hildegarde, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Brunhilda
• Minerva
• Gertrude
• German
• Beulah
• Ethel
• Araminta
• Agatha
• Esmeralda
• Germany
• Helga
• Ernest

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Hildegarde is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Brazil, Belgium

  Languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Hildegard, Hildégarde

41 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Hildegarde is also recorded in one other lexicon, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Latvian, Sievietes vārds

  as a word·Tēzaurs.lv (Dictionary and Thesaurus of Latvian, AiLab / LU MII)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Hildegard of Vinzgouwb. 758DEnot in their usual nameQueen of the Franks and Blessed (c. 771 – 783)
• Hildegard von Bingenb. 1098DEnot in their usual nameGerman Benedictine abbess, polymath, mystic and Doctor of Church (1098–1179)
• Princess Hildegard Louise of Bavariab. 1825DEnot in their usual nameBavarian princess (1825-1864)
• Hildegarde Hawthorneb. 1871USAmerican writer, poet, and biographer (1871-1952)
• Hildegarde Hindeb. 1871British anthropologist and natural history collector
• Hildegarde Hoyt Swiftb. 1890USAmerican children's book author
• Hildegarde Howardb. 1901USAmerican paleornithologist
• Hildegardeb. 1906USAmerican singer (1906–2005)
• Nina Olivetteb. 1907USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (1907–1971)
• Hildegarde Neilb. 1939GBBritish actress (1939–2023)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

How to address them○(machine-generated)

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Hildegarde mean, and where does it come from?

A female given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Hildegard. Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).

What are other forms of the name Hildegarde?

In the etymology graph, Hildegard and Hildigardis are forms of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Hildegarde?

A machine transcription gives /ˈhɪɫdɪˌɡɑɹd/ (IPA) for English.

Is Hildegarde a male or female name?

Hildegarde is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

In which country does Hildegarde have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 479 people named Hildegarde, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled hildegarde.

How common is the name Hildegarde?

In the United States, the national register counted 479 people named Hildegarde in 2020, about 1 in 694 thousand residents.