I don’t have much time to research for a post today with grandchildren in town, but here is a short article. Maybe you have noticed a lot of names which are mentioned in this blog that have the letters GOTT in them. Gott is the German word for God. Our German ancestors’ faith is evident in their use of names which gave honor to God. It seems that the use of God in naming children has gone out of style. I think that is sad. Here is my humble effort at giving the meanings of names which have a Gott either at the beginning or the end of them.
Furchtegott – seek the Lord
Traugott – trust God
Gotthilf – God help
Gottwerth – God worthy
Gotthold – God love
Gottfried – God peace
Gottlieb – God love (male)
Gottliebin – God love (female)
Gottlob – God praise
If I am wrong in any way or if you know of other such names that I did not include, please leave a comment.
Thanks for the input. I ran into another one this morning. Ehregott…..I think it means “honor God”.
Furchtegott is probably something more like “Fear God” or “Fear of God” since Furcht means fear.
Off the top of my head the only other similar German names I can recall are Gottschalk “God servant” (though Schalk means something else in modern German) and Gotthard “God strong/brawny.” There there are however some related names through Old English, like Godgifu/Godiva “Gift of God” and Godric “God power/ruler.” Also, Gottfried has an English cognate in Godfrey.
Nice list! Two corrections: “Furchtegott” should be “fear God”, and I think “God faithful/gracious” might be more appropriate for “Gotthold”.