Clovis is the modern conventional French (and thence English) form of the

Old Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century. After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy an ...

name (in

runic alphabet Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

) or *"Hlōdowik" or "Hlōdowig" (in

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...

), equivalent to the modern forms

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

(French),

Lodewijk Lodewijk () is the Dutch name for Louis. In specific it may refer to: Given name Literature * Lodewijk Hartog van Banda (1916–2006), Dutch comic strip writer * Lodewijk Paul Aalbrecht Boon, (1912-1979) Flemish writer * Lodewijk van Deyssel, ...

(Dutch),

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

(English), and Ludwig (German).

Etymology

The name *''Hlōdowik'' or *''Hlōdowig'' is traditionally considered to be composed of two elements, deriving from both

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...

''*hlūdaz'' ("loud, famous") and ''*wiganą'' ("to battle, to fight") respectively, resulting in the traditional practice of translating Clovis' name as meaning "famous warrior". However, scholars have pointed out that

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

consequently transcribes the names of various Merovingian royal names containing the first element as ''chlodo-''. The use of a

close-mid back protruded vowel The close-mid back rounded vowel, or high-mid back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Close-mid back protruded vowel The close ...

(o), rather than the expected

close back rounded vowel The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u. In ...

(u) which Gregory does use in various other Germanic names (i.e.

Fredegundis 678 Fredegundis is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered 22 January 1909 from Heidelberg by German astronomer K. Wilhelm Lorenz, and was named after the French opera Frédégonde. This object is orbiting at a distance of with a pe ...

, Arnulfus,

Gundobad Gundobad ( la, Flavius Gundobadus; french: Gondebaud, Gondovald; 452 – 516 AD) was King of Burgundy, King of the Burgundians (473 – 516), succeeding his father Gundioc of Burgundy. Previous to this, he had been a Patrician (ancient Rome), ...

us, etc.) opens up the possibility that the first element instead derives from

''*hlutą'' ("lot, share, portion"), giving the meaning of the name as "loot bringer" or "plunder (bringing) warrior". This hypothesis is supported by the fact that if the first element is taken to mean "famous", then the name of

Chlodomer Chlodomer, also spelled Clodomir or Clodomer (c. 495 - 524) was the second of the four sons of Clovis I, King of the Franks. On the death of his father, in 511, he divided the kingdom of the Franks with his three brothers: Theuderic I, Childeber ...

(one of Clovis' sons) would contain two elements (''*hlūdaz'' and ''*mērijaz'') both meaning "famous", which would be highly uncommon within the typical

Germanic name Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', for "noble", and ', for "counsel". However, there are al ...

structure.

Frankish royalty

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

(c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler *

Clovis II Clovis II (633 – 657) was King of Neustria and Burgundy, having succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634. He was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her deat ...

(637 – c. 658), king of Neustria and Burgundy *

Clovis III Clovis III was the Frankish king of Austrasia in 675 and possibly into 676. A member of the Merovingian dynasty, he was a child and his reign so brief and contested that he may be considered only a pretender. He is sometimes even left unnumbered a ...

(reigned 675–676), the king of Austrasia *

Clovis IV Clovis IV (c. 677–694/695) was the king of the Franks from 690 or 691 until his death. If the brief reign of Clovis III (675) is ignored as a usurpation, then Clovis IV may be numbered Clovis III. A member of the Merovingian dynasty, Clovis wa ...

(682–695), the sole king of the Franks from 691 until 695 * Clovis (died 580), son of

Chilperic I Chilperic I (c. 539 – September 584) was the king of Neustria (or Soissons) from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund. Life Immediately after the death of his father in 561, he en ...

and Audovera, assassinated by his father and stepmother *

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

, son of Charlemagne,

King of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

from 781 and sole ruler of the Franks 814–840, but counted as "Louis I of France" even though

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

(the nucleus of the later kingdom of France) was formed only after his death.

Modern use

Because of the importance of

in the national historiography of France, the form ''Clovis'' has been occasionally revived beginning in the 19th century. In the same period, the form ''Chlodwig'' has seen some limited use in Germany.The name ''Chlodwig'' is not now in use as a given name in Germany, but it exists as a surname, with a very limited (five individuals) found in the German phonebook as of 2013; se
verwandt.de
Somewhat more widespread as a surname is the variant ''Klodwig'' (67 entries

/ref> *

Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Chlodwig Carl Viktor, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Prince of Ratibor and Corvey (german: Chlodwig Carl Viktor Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Prinz von Ratibor und von Corvey) (31 March 18196 July 1901), usually referred to as the P ...

(1819–1901) *

Clovis Hugues Clovis Hugues (November 3, 1851 – June 11, 1907) was a French poet, journalist, dramatist, novelist, and socialist activist. He wrote some of his works in Provençal and un 1898 was elected a of the Félibrige, a society for the promotion of ...

(1851–1907), French author * Chlodwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1876–1954) * Clovis Trouille (1889–1975), French painter * Clovis-Thomas Richard (1892–1976), Canadian politician * Clovis Renaison (1892–1989), French Senator *

Clovis E. Byers Lieutenant general (United States), Lieutenant General Clovis Ethelbert Byers (November 5, 1899 – December 13, 1973) was a United States Army officer who served in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his role as Chief of st ...

(1899–1979), American general * Clovis Cornillac (b. 1967), French actor *

Clovis Kamdjo Clovis Kamdjo Tchoumbou (born 15 December 1990) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder. Kamdjo came to England at the age of 14 and started his career in the Academy at Reading in 2005. He was youth team ...

(b. 1990), Cameroonian footballer

Fictional characters

Clovis la Britannia and its sequel series are Japanese anime made by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi. The series focus around a former prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, Lelouch Vi Britannia, who obtains a mysterious power ...

, a character in the anime series ''Code Geass'' * Clovis, the main antagonist in the 1997 ''Blade Runner'' video game * Clovis Sangrail, a character in the short stories of

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...

* Clovis, a minor character in

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...

Heroes of Olympus ''The Heroes of Olympus'' is a pentalogy of fantasy-adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan. The novels detail a conflict between Greek demigods, Roman demigods, and Gaia (Roman name Terra). In the fourth book of the series, ...

series. * Clovis, a major supporting character in Keith Knight's ''

Woke ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social ineq ...

'' series. *

Rush Clovis This incomplete list of characters from the '' Star Wars'' franchise contains only those which are considered part of the official ''Star Wars'' canon, as of the changes made by Lucasfilm in April 2014. Following its acquisition by The Walt D ...

, supporting character in the Star Wars Universe who appears in '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars''. * Clovis Bray, a character appearing in the lore of the games ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' and ''

Destiny 2 ''Destiny 2'' is a free-to-play Online game, online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. It was originally released as a pay to play game in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It became free-to-play, ...

'' and later revealed as a character in '' Destiny 2: Beyond Light''.

References

{{given name