Hildegard

For the album, see Hildegard (album).

Hildegard is a female name derived from the Old High German hild ('war' or 'battle') and gard ('enclosure' or 'yard'), and means 'battle enclosure'.^[1][2] Variant spellings include: Hildegarde; the Polish, Portuguese, Slovene and Spanish Hildegarda; the Italian Ildegarda; the Hungarian Hildegárd; and the ancient German Hildegardis.^[3]

Hildegard

Gender	Female
Language(s)	Old High German
Origin
Meaning	"Battle Enclosure"
Other names
Alternative spelling	Hildegarde, Hildegarda, Ildegarda, Hildegárd, Hildegardis

Notable people with the name

• Hildegard (music duo), 2021 electronic music project by Canadian musicians Helena Deland and Ouri
• Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (1825-1864), Bavarian royal
• Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), Christian saint
• Hildegarde of Burgundy (ca. 1056-1104), French noble
• Hildegard of Fraumünster (828–856 or 859), daughter of Louis the German and first abbess of Fraumünster
• Hildegard, second wife of Charlemagne
• Hildegard, Countess of Auvergne or Matilda (c. 802–841), daughter of Emperor Louis the Pious and Ermengarde of Hesbaye
• Hildegard Appeltauer (born 1927), Austrian figure skater and Olympian
• Hildegard Bachert (1921-2019), German-born American art dealer and gallery director
• Hildegard Bechtler (born 1951), German costume and set designer
• Hildegard Behrens (1937–2009), German opera singer
• Hildegard Bentele (born 1967), German politician
• Hildegard Björck (1847-1920), Swedish academic pioneer
• Hildegard Breiner, Austrian anti-nuclear activist
• Hildegard Brom-Fischer (1908-2001), Dutch textile artist, specializing in ecclesiastical embroidery
• Hildegard Burjan (1883-1933), German Roman Catholic convert from Judaism and the founder of the Sisterhood of Caritas Socialis
• Hildegard Damerius (1910-2006), German lawyer and politician
• Hildegard Embacher (born 1967), Austrian cross-country skier and Olympian
• Hildegard Falck (born 1949), German middle distance runner and Olympic medalist
• Hildegard Fässler (born 1951), Swiss politician
• Hildegard Feldmann (1936-1990), Swiss nurse and Catholic lay missionary who was active in India and Colombia
• Hildegarde Flanner (1899–1987), American poet and activist
• Hildegard Goebbels (1934–1945), daughter and murder victim of Nazi Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels and Magda Goebbels.
• Hildegard Goss-Mayr (born 1930), Austrian nonviolent activist and Christian theologian
• Hildegard Grill (born 1927), Austrian gymnast and Olympian
• Hildegard Hess (1920-2014), German chemist
• Hildegard Hamm-Brücher (1921–2016), German politician
• Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel (1944-2024), German academic
• Hildegard Heichele (born 1947), German soprano in opera, concert and recital
• Hildegarde Howard (1901–1998), American paleornithologist
• Hildegard Jadamowitz (1916-1942), German communist activist and a member of the German resistance against National Socialism
• Hildegard Jone (1891-1963), Austrian poet and artist
• Hildegard Joos (1909-2005), Austrian painter
• Hildegard Kleeb (born 1957), Swiss pianist
• Hilde Klusenwerth (1910-1999), German hurdler and Olympian
• Hildegarde Kneeland (1889–1994), American economist and statistician
• Hildegard Knef (1925–2002), German actress, singer and writer
• Hildegard Korf Kallmann-Bijl (1908–1968), German-born American physicist
• Hildegard Korger (1935-2018), Czech master calligrapher, scholar and professor
• Hildegard Körner (born 1959), East German middle distance runner and Olympian
• Hildegard Krekel (1952-2013), German actress
• Hildegard Lächert (1920-1995), German Nazi concentration camp guard
• Hildegard Lamfrom (1922-1984), German-American molecular biologist/biochemist
• Hildegard Lehnert (1857-1943), German painter
• Hildegard Lewy (1903-1969), Romanian Assyriologist and academic
• Hildegarde Dolson Lockridge (1908–1981), poet, playwright and novelist
• Hildegard Löwy (1922-1943), German Jewish office worker and member of the anti-Nazi resistance
• Hildegard Mende (1922-?), German Nazi concentration camp guard
• Hildegarde Naughton (born 1977), Irish politician and mayor of Galway
• Hildegarde Neil (1939-2023), South African-born English actress
• Hildegard Neuffer-Stavenhagen (1866-1939), German writer with a focus on children's literature and education
• Hildegard Neumann (born 1919-c. 2010), German Nazi and concentration camp overseer
• Hildegard Maria Nickel (born 1948), German sociologist and feminist
• Hildegard Ochse (1935-1997), German photographer
• Hildegard Peplau (1909–1999), American nurse
• Hildegard Puwak (1949–2018), Romanian politician
• Hildegard Ranczak (1895-1987), Bohemian operatic soprano
• Hildegard Maria Rauchfuß (1918-2000), German writer
• Hildegard Reinhardt (born 1942), German translator and art historian
• Hildegart Rodríguez Carballeira (1914-1933, Spanish activist for socialism and sexual revolution
• Hildegard Rosenthal (1913-1990), Swiss-born Brazilian photographer
• Hildegard Rothe-Ille (1899-1942), German mathematician
• Hildegard Rütgers (born 1930), German classical contralto singer in opera and concert
• Hildegard Schaeder (1902-1984), German theologian and church historian
• Hilde Schrader (1910-1966), German swimmer and Olympian
• Hildegarde Sell (1906–2005), American cabaret singer known as Hildegarde
• Hildegard Sellhuber (born 1950), retired German speed skater and Olympian
• Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling (1908-1981), German-Danish tennis player
• Hildegard Stücklen (1891-1963), German-American physicist who dealt with spectroscopy
• Hildegard Temporini-Gräfin Vitzthum (1939-2004), German classical historian and writer
• Hildegard Thorell (1850-1930), Swedish painter
• Hildegard Trabant (1927-1964), East German woman shot and killed while trying to cross over the Berlin Wall into West Germany
• Hildegard Vieregg (born 1939), German museologist and museum professional, an educator, a university professor and lecturer, author, editor and administrator
• Hilda (Hildegarde) Vīka (1897–1963), Latvian artist and writer
• Hildegard Werner (1834-1911), Swedish musician, musical conductor, and journalist active in Great Britain
• Hildegard Westerkamp (born 1946), German-born Canadian composer, radio artist, teacher, and sound ecologist
• Hildegard Woodward (1898-1977), American children's book author and illustrator
• Hildegard Wortmann (born 1966), German business executive

Notable fictional characters

• Hildegarde Antoinette "Hilda" Spellman, a character in the comic book Sabrina the Teenage Witch and subsequent television series.
• Hildegarde (Marvel Comics), a Valkyrie
• Hildegarde Withers, in novels and films
• Hildegard von Krone, from the Soul series of fighting games
• Hildegard von Mariendorf, from Legend of the Galactic Heroes
• Hildegarde T., from the anime and manga series Beelzebub by Ryūhei Tamura
• Hildegarde, in the Johann Strauss operetta Simplicius
• Hildegard 'Hildy' Johnson, from 1940 American comedy film His Girl Friday
• Princess Hildegard, from the Disney animated series Sofia the First
• Hildegarde, from the game Catan (web/app version)
• Hildegard; 'Devout Oracle' from the mobile game Dragalia Lost
• Hildegarde (Hilda) from the manga and anime series Beelzebub Beelzebub (manga)
• Hildegard Hamhocker, a character in Tumbleweeds (comic strip)
• Hildegard "Hildy" Gloom, witch and main antagonist of The 7D