Gender Feminine
Usage History (Ecclesiastical)
Other Forms FormsWilfetrude, Wolftrud, Vulfetrude, Vulfedrudis
Meaning & History
Variant or corrupted form of Vulfedrudis, which was a Latinized form of Wulfetrude or Wulftrude, itself derived from the Germanic elements wolf meaning "wolf" and drud "strength" (alternatively, the second element could be *trut "maiden"). Compare the Old English cognate Wulfthryth, which has been Latinized as Wilfrida.This was the name of a 7th-century Frankish saint; also known as Wulfetrude and Vulfetrude, she was a niece of Saint Gertrude who co-founded the Benedictine abbey of Nivelles in Brabant, Belgium. Wilfretrudis succeeded her aunt as abbess of Nivelles in 659.