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

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

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 Götz or Goetz () is a German name, in origin a hypocorism of '' Gottfried''. It remains in use as a short form of ''Gottfried'', but it has also become a surname. Surnames ;Goetz * Alphonse Goetz (1865-1934), French chess master * Arturo Goetz, ...

'' 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 The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

, 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 :''See Gottfried for the given name.'' Gotfrid (also ''Gotefrid'', modernized ''Gottfried''; la, Gotfridus or ''Cotefredus''; (c. 650–709) was the Duke of Alemannia in the late seventh century and until his death. He was of the house of the Agilo ...

, Duke of Alemannia and Raetia (d. 709) *Godefrid (d. c. 720), son of

Drogo of Champagne Drogo (c.675 – 708) was a Frankish nobleman, the eldest son of Pippin of Heristal and Plectrudis. He was the duke of Champagne from the early 690s. Drogo was born shortly after his parents' marriage, which probably took place in 675 or just after ...

, 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 Geoffrey I (c. 980 – 20 November 1008), also known as Geoffrey of Rennes and Geoffrey Berengar, was the eldest son of Duke Conan I of Brittany. He was Count of Rennes (ruler of the Romano-Frankish ''civitas'' of Rennes), by right of successio ...

(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 Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...

(''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 medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

* 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 Geoffrey of Vinsauf ( fl. 1200) is a representative of the early medieval grammarian movement, termed ''preceptive grammar'' for its interest in teaching '' ars poetria''. ''Ars poetria'' is a subdivision of the grammatical art (''ars grammatica ...

(fl. 1200), medieval grammarian * Gottfried von Strassburg (d. 1210), author of a Middle High German courtly romance *

Geoffrey of Villehardouin Geoffrey of Villehardouin (c. 1150 – c. 1213) was a French knight and historian who participated in and chronicled the Fourth Crusade. He is considered one of the most important historians of the time period,Smalley, p. 131 best known for wr ...

(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 wg hohenlohe

Gottfried von Hohenlohe (1265 – 19 October 1310) was the 1 ...

(1265–1310), Grand Master of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

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 Gesche Gottfried (1785–1831) Gesina ("Gesche") Margarethe Gottfried (née Timm; 6 March 1785 – 21 April 1831) was a German serial killer who murdered 15 people by arsenic poisoning in Bremen and Hanover, Germany, between 1813 and 1827. She wa ...

(1785–1831), German serial killer *

John Gottfried John Charles Gottfried (October 13, 1917 in Welland, Ontario – July 28, 1980) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1977. The son of Anthony Gottfried and Len ...

(1917–1980), Canadian politician *

Martha Joy Gottfried Martha Joy Gottfried née Young (September 15, 1925 – January 10, 2014) was a prominent American-born Mexican landscape painter. Biography Gottfried was born on September 15, 1925 in Glendale, Arizona, to Samuel Joy and Helen Young. She ...

(1925–2014), American landscape painter *

Robert W. Gottfried Robert W. Gottfried (May 15, 1926 – May 26, 2007) was an American home builder, developer and real estate entrepreneur whose signature French Regency-style residences remain sought-after, highly prized addresses in world-famous Palm Beach, Flor ...

(1926–2007), American entrepreneur * Martin Gottfried (1933–2014), American critic, columnist and author *

Dan Gottfried Dan Gottfried ( he, דן גוטפריד ; born 1939) is an Israeli jazz pianist and music educator. In 1987 he founded the Red Sea Jazz Festival, which he directed until his retirement in 2008. He is president of the Israeli Musicians Union. Bi ...

(1939– ), Israeli jazz pianist and lawyer *

Paul Gottfried Paul Edward Gottfried (born November 21, 1941) is an American paleoconservative political philosopher, historian, and writer. He is a former Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He is editor-in-chief of the paleocons ...

(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 Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors Gottfried played one season at Oral Roberts and three se ...

(1964– ), American basketball coach * Keith Gottfried (1966– ), American lawyer

References

{{given name, type=both German-language surnames German masculine given names Jewish surnames

Given name

Surname

See also

References