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Girl · Germanic, through Polish
Jadwiga
Say it: yahd-VEE-gah
Meaning
Polish form of German Hedwig, from Old High German hadu 'battle' and wig 'fight'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Brought to Poland with Hedwig of Silesia around 1200 and made famous by Queen Jadwiga, crowned 'king' of Poland in 1384.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 85 babies given this name since 1912
- At its height in 1912, about 1 in 69,800 girls
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
| Czech | Hedvika |
|---|---|
| Slovak | Hedviga |
| German | Hedwig |
| Hungarian | Hedvig |
| Latin | Hedvigis |
Famous bearers
- Saint Jadwiga, King of Poland
- Saint Jadwiga (Hedwig) of Silesia
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Calendars of saints and name days
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today 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.