Hildegonde

This name derives from the Old High German “Hildigund,” composed of two elements: “*hildiz” (battle, fight) plus “*guntho / *gunþiz” (battle, fight, the act of killing, blow, to strike). Hildegund († 1188) was a German woman who lived under the name Joseph disguised as a male in a monastery. She is often described as a saint (feast day April 20), though her cult has never been formally approved. Saint Hildegund (~1130–1183) was a Premonstratensian abbess. Born to the nobility, her father was Count Herman of Lidtberg and her mother, Countess Hedwig. She was married to Count Lothair of Meer (now Meerbusch), in the new region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.