Gunifort

The earliest known bearer of this name is saint Gunifort of Pavia (northern Italy), who is said to have lived in the early 4th century, during the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. However, other sources place him in the 5th century instead.

The story of his life and martyrdom survives in two manuscripts, which were written sometime between the 8th and 12th century. They are titled Passio Sancti Guiniforti ("Passion of Saint Guinifort") and Miracula Sancti Guniforti ("Miracles of Saint Gunifort").

According to these manuscripts, the saint originated from the British Isles: specifically Ireland, which at the time was called Scotia by the Romans. The saint had a brother named Guinibold (also Gunibold) and two sisters, Pusillana and Favilla. All of them were devout Christians. Together, the four of them left their homeland for the region of Germania in west-central Europe, where the sisters were killed by pagan Teutons. Gunifort and his brother subsequently fled to the city of Como in northern Italy, where Guinibold was captured by the local authorities and publicly executed. The saint then travelled southwards to the city of Milan, where he was attacked for his faith and left for dead. Still alive but mortally wounded, Gunifort managed to make his way further south. Upon his arrival in the city of Pavia, a Christian woman took him into her home, where she cared for him until he finally succumbed to his injuries three days later.

The name of saint Gunifort is most likely Celtic, but a Germanic origin cannot be ruled out entirely. This will be explored in further detail below.

First, Gunifort may actually have been from Britannia (Roman Britain), as some scholars doubt that the saint was native to Ireland. He is generally thought to have lived in the early 4th century, but Christianity was only introduced to Ireland around the beginning of the 5th century - about a century after the saint's death. And even if he had lived in the 5th century instead (as some others think), then the religion would still have been too new for it to have taken root to the point of bringing forth devout native Irish Christians who were raised in the faith (like Gunifort and his siblings appear to have been).

As such, Britain seems to be a more likely place of origin for the saint. This means that he was most likely a Celtic Briton, but he could also have been of Germanic extraction, in which case he was likely descended from Germanic foederati (allies of Rome bound by treaty) who had settled in Britain between the 1st and 4th century. If the saint lived in the 5th century, then he could also be descended from the Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain after the end of Roman rule in about the year 410. Over time, these Germanic peoples would merge together and come to be known as Anglo-Saxons.

With that said, only one etymology has been proposed for a Celtic origin of the name Gunifort. The first element is said to consist of Proto-Brythonic *gwɨnn meaning "white" (also see Guinevere). The second element is thought to be Proto-Brythonic *frud meaning "stream, river" as well as "flow, current". Also compare the similar-looking name Gwynfor.

In the case of a Germanic origin, the first element of the name is either Proto-Germanic *gunþī meaning "battle" or *weniz meaning "friend". This is because the name of the saint has been found recorded as Gundifort and Gundifortis as well as Winiford, Winifort, Winifortis, Winifortus and Vinifortus. Meanwhile, the second element of the name is uncertain; it might be derived from Proto-West Germanic *forhtu meaning "fright, fear" or even *fardi meaning "journey, voyage". It is also possible that it comes from Latin fortis meaning "strong, powerful", in which case the name Gunifort is actually a Latin-Germanic hybrid. Such names did in fact exist, but don't seem to have been particularly common at that point in time.