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Girl · Old English
Godgifu
Say it: GOD-yih-voo
Meaning
From Old English god 'god' (or gōd 'good') and gifu 'gift'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Godiva is the Latinised form; the famous naked ride through Coventry is a later legend, first recorded about 150 years after her death.
Its wave through time
No birth counts are recorded for this name in the records loaded here: it has been given to fewer than five babies a year, or not at all, since records began.
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Godiva, Godeva
Famous bearers
- Lady Godiva, wife of Leofric of Mercia
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Anglo-Saxon charters, chronicles and church records
- The Domesday Book (1086) source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.