Ekkehard (and Eckardt, Eckard, Eckart, Eckhardt, Ekkehart) is a German given name. It is composed of the elements ''ekke'' "edge, blade; sword" and ''hart'' "brave; hardy". Variant forms include Eckard, Eckhard, Eckhart, Eckart. The

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

form of the name was ''Ecgheard'', possibly attested in the toponym Eggerton.

Middle Ages

It was the name of five monks of the Abbey of Saint Gall from the tenth to the thirteenth century: *

Ekkehard I Ekkehard I ( la, Eccehardus; died 14 January 973), called ''Major'' or ''Senex'' (the Elder), was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall. He was of noble birth, of the Jonschwyl family in Toggenburg, and was educated in the monastery of St. Gall; afte ...

(died 973) *

Ekkehard II Ekkehard II (died 23 April 990), called ''Palatinus'' ("the Courtier"), was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall who became known for his sequence poetry. Life Ekkehard was probably born in the Saint Gall area; he and his cousin Ekkehard III were n ...

(died 990) *

Ekkehard III Ekkehard III was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall and a nephew of Ekkehard I Ekkehard I ( la, Eccehardus; died 14 January 973), called ''Major'' or ''Senex'' (the Elder), was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall. He was of noble birth, of the Jonsc ...

Ekkehard IV Ekkehard IV ( 980 – c. 1056) was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall and the author of the ''Casus sancti Galli'' and ''Liber Benedictionum''. Life According to the testimony in his "Chronicle" (especially in view of his statement that he had heard ...

(died c. 1056) *

Ekkehard V Ekkehard V (died c. 1220), called ''Minimus'' (the Least), was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Gall. He is the last of the Saint Gall Ekkehards, and flourished towards the end of the twelfth, and the beginning of the thirteenth, century. No particulars ...

(died c. 1220) It was also the name of two Margraves of Meissen: * Eckard I (died 1002) * Eckard II (died 1046) Other notable people with that given name include: * Ekkehard of Huysburg (died 1084), abbot of Huysburg Abbey * Ekkehard of Aura (died 1126), chronicler and abbot of Aura Abbey * Meister Eckhart (died c. 1327), philosopher and mystic * Eckhard Christian (1907-1985), Luftwaffe officer * Ekkehard von Kuenssberg (1913–2000), German doctor * Eckhard Pfeiffer (b. 1941), businessman

Middle Ages

See also