Gottfried is a masculine German given name.
It is derived from the
Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century.
The name is composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for 'God' and 'good', and possibly further conflated with ) and ('peace, 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 surnames. Gottfried is a common
Jewish surname as well.
Given name
The given name ''Gottfried'' became extremely frequent in Germany in the
High Middle Ages, 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
Godfrey I (born 940/945; died 964) was the count of Hainault from 958 and margrave or vice-duke of Lower Lorraine from 959, when that duchy was divided by Duke Bruno, who remained duke until his death in 964.
Life
Godfrey was the son of Godfr ...
(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
*
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
*
Gottfried von Hagenau
Gottfried von Hagenau (also known as Götz von Hagenau, Gozzo de Hagenowe, Goetz de Haguenau, Godefridus Haguenonensis, and several other names) was a medieval priest, physician, theologian and poet from Alsace. As his name suggests, he was probab ...
(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
See also
*
Galfrid
*
Geoffrey,
Geoffroy (surname),
Jeffrey,
Jeffries Jeffries is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Adam Jeffries (b. 1976), American actor
* Ben Jeffries (b. 1980), Australian rugby league footballer
* Bill Jeffries (b. 1945), former New Zealand politician
* Charles Jeffries (186 ...
,
Jeffers
Jeffers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alex Jeffers, American author
* Alexis Jeffers (born 1968), St. Kitts and Nevis politician
* Anne Burton Jeffers (1851 - 1946), American librarian
* Audrey Jeffers (1898–1968), ...
*
Godred/Guðrøðr
*
Gofraid
is an Irish masculine given name, arising in the Old Irish and Middle Irish/Middle Gaelic languages, as , and later partially Anglicised as Goffraid.
' corresponds to the Old Norse ', cognate with Gottfried or ', and Galfrid or '. ''Gofraid''/' ...
/Goraidh
*
Godfrey Godfrey may refer to:
People
* Godfrey (name), a given name and surname
* Godfrey (comedian), American comedian, actor
Places In the United States
* Godfrey, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Godfrey, Illinois, a village
* Godfrey, Kansas, an ...
,
Godefroy
References
{{given name, type=both
German-language surnames
German masculine given names
Jewish surnames