Gertrud

Gertrud is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, a continental form of Gertrude. It is built from elements meaning spear (ger) and strength or power (trud). The name has been used across German-speaking countries and the Nordic languages, with Gertrud remaining common in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and parts of Germany. In English, the form Gertrude is more common, while Gertrud is a traditional spelling in several Continental languages.

Saints and mystics named Gertrud have lent the name religious associations in Europe. Saint Gertrud of Nivelles was a 7th-century abbess who founded a monastery at Nivelles. Gertrud von Helfta, known as Gertrude the Great, was a 13th-century German nun and mystic whose writings influenced late medieval spirituality.

Among later bearers, Gertrud von Le Fort was a German Catholic writer associated with Catholic modernism, and Gertrud Kolmar was a German-Jewish poet who perished during the Holocaust. The name also appears in fiction and film; the Danish-Swedish drama film Gertrud (1964), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, centers on a wife’s pursuit of personal authenticity and fidelity in a society that constrains her.

Gertrud remains a classic but less common given name in contemporary usage, though it persists in various languages in its historical forms and in religious, literary, and cultural contexts.