Kunegonde

[JustCallMeJ]

Anyone have any info on this name? I've been looking but have been unsuccessful. It was my grandmother's middle name, pronounced Koon-ih-GOON-duh (the oo's in Koon and GOON are pronounced like the oo in book) and I've always wondered what it means or where it came from. Both of her parents came to the U.S. from Poland before she was born, if that helps. Thanks in advance!

[bluebell]

This doesn't entirely answer your question, but in Voltaire's book Candide, the main female character is named Cunegonde (KOON-ay-gond). There's an accent over the first "e," but I can't do it with this computer. Cunegonde is French and looks pretty similar to your Polish Kunegonde, so I typed it into Wikipedia, and here's a short list of historical figures with the name, or some such variation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunigunde

[Sobes]

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/MDGARRET/2002-06/1023988614

I found this, suggesting kuni means brave and gunde means war with roots in German.

[Panya]

The Oxford Dictionary of First Names:

Kunigunde (f.) German: from an old Germanic female personal name composed of the elements kuoni brave + gund strife. St. Cunegund (d. 1039) was the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, with whom she is said to have lived in "conjugal virginity". Cognates: Dutch: Kunigonde, Cunegonde. Pet forms: German: Kinge, Kinga.

I have dozens of women on my family tree with this name [various spellings]. :)

[JustCallMeJ]

Wow! I knew you experts would know something about it :) It's neat to know a little more about it, and I'd say it fit my grandma, she was a brave lady. Not that I'll necessarily be using it in the future or anything, just curious :)