Gottfried is a masculine German given name. It is derived from the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

name , recorded since the 7th century, and composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for "God" and "good", and possibly further conflated with ) and ("peace" or "protection"). The German name was commonly hypocoristically abbreviated as '' Götz'' from the late medieval period. ''Götz'' and variants (including '' Göthe, Göthke'' and ''Göpfert'') also came into use as

German surname Personal names in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several given names (''Vorname'', plural ''Vornamen'') and a surname (''Nachname, Familienname''). The ''Vorname'' is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the "Name order, ...

s. Gottfried is also a common surname among

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

Given name

The given name ''Gottfried'' became extremely frequent in Germany in the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

, to the point of eclipsing most other names in ''God-'' (such as ''Godabert, Gotahard, Godohelm, Godomar, Goduin, Gotrat, Godulf'', etc.) The name was Latinised as ''Godefridus''. Medieval bearers of the name include: * Gotfrid, Duke of Alemannia and Raetia (d. 709) *Godefrid (d. c. 720), son of Drogo of Champagne, Frankish nobleman. * Godfrid Haraldsson (d. c. 856), Danish Viking leader * Godfrid, Duke of Frisia (d. 885), Danish Viking leader * Godfrey, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (d. 949) * Godfrey I, Duke of Lower Lorraine (d. 964) * Geoffrey I "Greymantle", Count of Anjou (d. 987) * Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany (d. 1008) * Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine (d. 1023) * Geoffrey II "the Hammer", Count of Anjou (d. 1060) * Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine (d. 1069) * Godfrey of Bouillon (''Godefridus Bullionensis, Godefroy de Bouillon'', d. 1100), Frankish knight and leader of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

* Gottfried II of Raabs (d. c. 1137), burgrave of Nuremberg * Gottfried of Admont (d. 1165), Benedictine abbot * Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (d. c. 1181) * Geoffrey of Clairvaux (d. after 1188), Cistercian abbot * Godfrey of Viterbo (''Godefridus Viterbiensis'', c. 1120 – c. 1196) * Geoffrey of Vinsauf (fl. 1200), medieval grammarian * Gottfried von Strassburg (d. 1210), author of a Middle High German courtly romance * Geoffrey of Villehardouin (d. c. 1212), knight and historian of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

* Gottfried von Hohenlohe (1265–1310), Grand Master of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

* Gottfried von Hagenau (died 1313), poet, theologian and medical doctor from Alsace A notable early modern bearer of the name is Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646–1716). ''Gottfried'' remains comparatively popular in Germany, ranking in the top 200 masculine given names.found to be at rank 135 with 11,738 entries in the German phonebook as of 2005 according to :de:wikt:Verzeichnis:Deutsch/Liste der häufigsten männlichen Vornamen Deutschlands.

Surname

* Gesche Gottfried (1785–1831), German serial killer * John Gottfried (1917–1980), Canadian politician * Martha Joy Gottfried (1925–2014), American landscape painter * Robert W. Gottfried (1926–2007), American entrepreneur * Martin Gottfried (1933–2014), American critic, columnist and author * Dan Gottfried (1939– ), Israeli jazz pianist and lawyer * Paul Gottfried (1941– ), American political and philosophy professor * Richard Gottfried (1947– ), American politician * Brian Gottfried (1952– ), American tennis player * Gilbert Gottfried (1955–2022), American comedian and actor * Mark Gottfried (1964– ), American basketball coach * Keith Gottfried (1966– ), American lawyer

References

{{given name, type=both German-language surnames German masculine given names Masculine given names Surnames of Jewish origin

Given name

Surname

See also

References