Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Edward

Contribute

Add to List

EDWARD

GENDER: Masculine

USAGE: English, Polish

PRONOUNCED: ED-wərd (English), ED-vahrt (Polish) [key]

Meaning & History

Means "rich guard", derived from the Old English elements ead "rich, blessed" and weard "guard". Saint Edward the Confessor was the king of England shortly before the Norman conquest. He was known as a just ruler, and because of his popularity this name remained in use after the conquest when most other Old English names were replaced by Norman ones. The 13th-century king Henry III named his son and successor after the saint, and seven subsequent kings of England were also named Edward. This is one of the few Old English names to be used throughout Europe (in various spellings).

Related Names

See All Relations

Show Family Tree

DIMINUTIVES: Ed, Eddie, Eddy, Ned, Ted, Teddy (English)

OTHER LANGUAGES: Eadweard (Anglo-Saxon), Eduard, Edvard (Armenian), Edorta (Basque), Eduard (Catalan), Eduard, Edi (Croatian), Eduard, Edvard (Czech), Edvard (Danish), Eduard, Ed (Dutch), Eduard (Estonian), Edvard, Eetu (Finnish), Édouard (French), Eduard (Georgian), Eduard (German), Ekewaka (Hawaiian), Eduárd, Edvárd (Hungarian), Eadbhárd (Irish), Edoardo (Italian), Eduards (Latvian), Edvard (Norwegian), Duarte, Eduardo, Dado, Du, Duda, Dudu, Edu (Portuguese), Eduard (Romanian), Eduard (Russian), Eideard (Scottish), Eduard (Slovak), Edvard, Edi (Slovene), Eduardo, Lalo (Spanish), Edvard (Swedish)

Popularity