Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from

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 ...

''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection".

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

latinises it ''

Segimundus Julius Segimundus was a nobleman of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Cherusci, a son of Segestes who was a close ally of the Roman Empire. They were followers of the Imperial cult of ancient Rome, imperial cult of Augustus. In this context, Segimund ...

''. There appears to be an older form of the High German word "Sieg" (victory): ''sigis'', obviously Gothic and an inferred Germanic form, and there is a younger form: ''sigi'', which is

Old Saxon Old Saxon (), also known as Old Low German (), was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Eur ...

''sigu'' (both from about 9th century). A 5th century Prince of Burgundy was known both as ''Sigismund'' and ''Sigimund'' (see Ernst Förstemann, ''Altdeutsche Personennamen'', 1906; Henning Kaufmann, ''Altdeutsche Personennamen'', Ergänzungsband, 1968). Its Hungarian equivalent is Zsigmond. A Lithuanian name Žygimantas, meaning "wealth of (military) campaign", from Lithuanian ''žygis'' "campaign, march" + ''manta'' "goods, wealth", has been a substitution of the name ''Sigismund'' in the Lithuanian language, from which it was adopted by the

Ruthenian language Ruthenian (see also #Nomenclature, other names) is an exonymic linguonym for a closely related group of East Slavic languages, East Slavic linguistic Variety (linguistics), varieties, particularly those spoken from the 15th to 18th centuries in ...

as Жыгімонт (such are the cases of

Sigismund Kęstutaitis Sigismund Kęstutaitis (, ; 136520 March 1440) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name, while his pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was the son of Grand Duke Kęstutis and his wife Birutė. Aft ...

, Sigismund Korybut,

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...

, Sigismund II Augustus). The Polish spelling is

Zygmunt Zygmunt, Zigmunt, Zigmund and spelling variations thereof are masculine given names and occasionally surnames. It has the same etymology as the Germanic name Zigmund. People so named include: Given name Medieval period * Sigismund I the Old (1467� ...

, the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

variant is

Zikmund Zikmund (feminine: Zikmundová) is a Czech given name and surname, a Czech variant of the name Sigismund. Pet forms of the name are Zika and Zíka. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Zikmund of Pernštejn ( – ), Moravian noble ...

, and the variant used in Slovak and

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

is Žigmund.

People

European rulers

* Saint Sigismund of Burgundy (died 523), King of the Burgundians * Sigismund I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died 1405) *

King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania *

Sigismund II August Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania *

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, King of Sweden *

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1437. He was elected King of Germany (King of the Romans) in 1410, and was also King of Bohemia from 1419, as well as prince-elect ...

(1368–1437), also King of Hungary and King of Bohemia *

(c. 1365–1440), Grand Duke of Lithuania * Sigismund Korybut (c. 1395-c. 1435), Lithuanian duke who participated in Hussite Wars *

Sigismund II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Sigismund II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died aft. 22 May 1452) was a German prince of the House of Ascania The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held posse ...

(died after 1452) *

Sigismund, Archduke of Austria Sigismund (26 October 1427 – 4 March 1496), a member of the House of Habsburg, was List of rulers of Austria, Duke of Austria from 1439 (elevated to Archduke in 1477) until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over F ...

(1427–1496), ruler of Further Austria *

Sigismund of Bavaria Sigismund of Bavaria (26 July 1439 – 1 February 1501) was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. He ruled as Duke of Bavaria-Munich from 1460 to 1467, and then as Duke of Bavaria-Dachau until his death. Biography Sigismund was the third son of ...

(1439–1501), Duke of Bavaria *

Sigismund von Herberstein Siegmund (Sigismund) Freiherr von Herberstein (or Baron Sigismund von Herberstein; 23 August 1486 – 28 March 1566) was a Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council. He was most noted for his exten ...

(1486–1566), Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council *

Sigismund of Brandenburg Sigismund of Brandenburg (1538–1566) was Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg and Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt. Life Sigismund was born on 11 December 1538 in Cölln; the son of the Elector of Brandenburg, Joachim II (15 ...

(1538–1566), Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg and Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt *

Sigismund Rákóczi Sigismund Rákóczi (, ; 15445December 1608) was Prince of Transylvania from 1607 to 1608. He was the son of János Rákóczi, a lesser nobleman with estates in Upper Hungary. Sigismund began a military career as the sword-bearer of the wealth ...

(died 1608), briefly Prince of Transylvania * Sigismund Báthory (1572–1613), Prince of Transylvania * Sigismund Francis of Austria (1630–1665), ruler of Further Austria * Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864-1866) * Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896–1978) * Ishak Bey Kraloğlu or Sigismund of Bosnia (born in the 1450s?), son of King Stephen Thomas of Bosnia * John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg (1572–1618)

Others

* Sigismund Albicus (c. 1360–1427), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague * Sigismund Bachrich (1841–1913), Hungarian composer, violinist and violist * Sigismund Bacstrom (c. 1750-1805), German doctor, surgeon and scholar of alchemy * Sigismund Payne Best (1885–1978), British secret agent during the First and Second World Wars * Sigismund von Braun (1911–1998), German diplomat and Secretary of State * Sigismund Danielewicz (1847–1927), California trade union organizer and anarchist *

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

(1856–1939), Austrian founder of psychoanalysis born Sigismund Schlomo Freud * Sigismund Gelenius (1497–1554), Greek scholar and humanist *

Sigismund Goldwater Sigismund Schulz Goldwater (February 7, 1873 – October 22, 1942)''Deaths of Fellows'' (1943) Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 19(3), 224. was a physician and hospital administrator. Biography Goldwater earned his medical degree in ...

(1873–1942), physician, hospital administrator, and New York City Commissioner of Health * Sigismund von Götzen (1576–1650), German diplomat and politician * Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825), Bishop of Linz * Sigismund Koelle (1820–1902), German missionary and pioneer scholar of African languages * Sigismund Ernst Richard Krone (1861–1917), German naturalist, zoologist, spelunker, archaeologist and researcher * Sigismund Mendl (1866–1945), British politician * Sigismund von Neukomm (1778–1858), Austrian composer and pianist * Sigismund Felix Freiherr von Ow-Felldorf (1855–1936), Bishop of Passau * Sigismund von Reitzenstein (1766–1847), first minister of state of the Grand Duchy of Baden * Sigismund von Schlichting (1829–1909), Prussian general and military theorist *

Sigismund von Schrattenbach Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form ...

(1698–1771), Archbishop of Salzburg * Sigismund Streit (1687–1775), German merchant and art patron in Venice * Sigismund Zaremba (1861–1915), Polish composer * Sigismund Steinhauser (2005-), American far right internet personality and self proclaimed “Nordic Prussian German”

Fictional characters

* Sigismund, a Space Marine character from the Warhammer 40,000 novel series, ''

The Horus Heresy ''The Horus Heresy'' is a Book series, series of science fantasy novels set in the fictional ''Warhammer 40,000'' Campaign setting, setting of tabletop Miniature wargaming, miniatures wargame company Games Workshop. Penned by several authors, t ...

'' * Sigismund Arbuthnot, the "mad maths master" in the Molesworth books * Sigismund Dijkstra, " the witcher" in the Andrzej Sapkowski books

References