Sigismund
Sigismund is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic *sigiz "victory" + *mundō "protection", recorded from the 5th century (Sigismund of Burgundy, c. 475–524) in the Kingdom of Burgundy. An older variant, Segimundus, was Latinized by Tacitus.[1] In the later medieval period it became a standard name in the Austrian, German, Hungarian, and Polish-Lithuanian royal families.
The name is often confused with its cognates Sigmund and Siegmund. While Sigismund was derived from the East Germanic languages, particularly Burgundian or Gothic,[2] the forms Siegmund and Sigmund trace their origins to the High German languages.[3] In Slavic languages, the variants Zygmunt/Zikmund/Žigmund was adopted, notably in Czech, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, and Polish. Other language variants of the name include Zsigmond in Hungarian, and also appeared in various forms across the Romance languages.
Translations
- Belarusian: Жыгімонт, romanized: Žyhimont
- French: Sigismond
- Italian: Sigismondo, Gismondo
- Latin: Sigismundus
- Latvian: Sigismunds
- Lithuanian: Sigismundas, Žygimantas
- Portuguese: Sigismundo
- Russian: Сигизмунд, romanized: Sigizmund
- Spanish: Segismundo
- Ukrainian: Сигізмунд, romanized: Sigizmund
People
European rulers
- Saint Sigismund of Burgundy (died 523), King of the Burgundians
- Sigismund I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died 1405)
- Sigismund I the Old King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund II August King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund III Vasa King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, King of Sweden
- Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368–1437), known as Sigismund of Luxembourg, also King of Hungary and King of Bohemia
- Sigismund Kęstutaitis (c. 1365–1440), Grand Duke of Lithuania
- Sigismund Korybut (c. 1395-c. 1435), Lithuanian duke who participated in Hussite Wars
- Sigismund II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died after 1452)
- Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (1427–1496), ruler of Further Austria
- Sigismund of Bavaria (1439–1501), Duke of Bavaria
- Sigismund von Herberstein (1486–1566), Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council
- Sigismund of Brandenburg (1538–1566), Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg and Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt
- Sigismund Rákóczi (died 1608), briefly Prince of Transylvania
- Sigismund Báthory (1572–1613), Prince of Transylvania
- Sigismund Francis of Austria (1630–1665), ruler of Further Austria
- Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864-1866)
- Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896–1978)
- Ishak Bey Kraloğlu or Sigismund of Bosnia (born in the 1450s?), son of King Stephen Thomas of Bosnia
- John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg (1572–1618)
Others
- Sigismund Albicus (c. 1360–1427), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague
- Sigismund Bachrich (1841–1913), Hungarian composer, violinist and violist
- Sigismund Bacstrom (c. 1750-1805), German doctor, surgeon and scholar of alchemy
- Sigismund Payne Best (1885–1978), British secret agent during the First and Second World Wars
- Sigismund von Braun (1911–1998), German diplomat and Secretary of State
- Sigismund Danielewicz (1847–1927), California trade union organizer and anarchist
- Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), Austrian founder of psychoanalysis born Sigismund Schlomo Freud
- Sigismund Gelenius (1497–1554), Greek scholar and humanist
- Sigismund Goldwater (1873–1942), physician, hospital administrator, and New York City Commissioner of Health
- Sigismund von Götzen (1576–1650), German diplomat and politician
- Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825), Bishop of Linz
- Sigismund Koelle (1820–1902), German missionary and pioneer scholar of African languages
- Sigismund Ernst Richard Krone (1861–1917), German naturalist, zoologist, spelunker, archaeologist and researcher
- Sigismund Mendl (1866–1945), British politician
- Sigismund von Neukomm (1778–1858), Austrian composer and pianist
- Sigismund Felix Freiherr von Ow-Felldorf (1855–1936), Bishop of Passau
- Sigismund von Reitzenstein (1766–1847), first minister of state of the Grand Duchy of Baden
- Sigismund von Schlichting (1829–1909), Prussian general and military theorist
- Sigismund von Schrattenbach (1698–1771), Archbishop of Salzburg
- Sigismund Streit (1687–1775), German merchant and art patron in Venice
- Sigismund Zaremba (1861–1915), Polish composer
Fictional characters
- Sigismund, a Space Marine character from the Warhammer 40,000 novel series, The Horus Heresy
- Sigismund Arbuthnot, the "mad maths master" in the Molesworth books
- Sigismund Dijkstra, "the witcher" in the Andrzej Sapkowski books
See also
- Sigismund Bell, a bell in Wawel Cathedral in Kraków
See also
- Sigmund (given name) for people named Sigmund or Siegmund
- Segismundo, main character of Calderón de la Barca's La vida es sueño
References
- ^ Tacitus, Cornelius (1906). The Annals. London: University College, Oxford. p. 44.
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard. "Gotisches Wörterbuch: S". Em. o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gerhard Köbler: Zentrissimum integrativer europäischer Legistik (in German). Retrieved 29 October 2025.
- ^ Schweyger, Franz (1867). Chronik der Stadt Hall [Chronicle of the City of Hall]. Tirolische Geschichtsquellen (in German). Innsbruck: Wagnerschen Universitätsbuchhandlung. p. 9.