Wolfgang
| Wolfgang | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Gender | Male |
| Language(s) | German |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | wulf (wolf) + gang (path) |
| Meaning | Path of the Wolf |
| Region of origin | Northern Europe |
Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany and Austria. The name is a combination of the Old High German word wulf, meaning "wolf" and gang, meaning "path, journey". The Old High German "wulf" occurs in names as the prefixes "wulf" and "wolf", as well as the suffixes "ulf" and "olf". "Wulf" is a popular element of the common dithematic German names. This is likely due the ancient reverence of the wolf as a strong, predatorial animal, also revered for its beauty. Names that contain this word also reference to Odin's wolves, Geri and Freki, as well as the apocalyptic Fenrir, and occurs in hundreds of German names. This theme exists in other names such as Adolf, Aethelwulf, Beowulf, Cynewulf, Rudolf, Wulfstan, Ulfilas, and Wulf. "Gang" exists in such names as Gangperht, Gangulf, Bertegang, Druhtgang, Hildigang, Hrodegang, and Wiligang.
The earliest reference of the name being used was in the 8th century.[1] The name was also attested as "Vulfgang" in the Reichenauer Verbrüdungsbuch in the 9th century. [2] The earliest recorded famous bearer of the name was a tenth-century Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg. Due to the lack of conflict with the pagan reference in the name with Catholicism, it is likely a much more ancient name whose meaning had already been lost by the tenth-century. Grimm (Teutonic Mythology p. 1093) interpreted the name as that of a hero in front of whom walks the "wolf of victory". A Latin gloss by Arnold of St. Emmeram interprets the name as Lupambulus.[3]
Notable people
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), Austro-German composer
- Wolfgang Bauer (disambiguation), name of at least five notable people
- Wolfgang Bolyai (1775–1856), Hungarian mathematician
- Wolfgang Borchert (1921–1947), German author and playwright
- Wolfgang Flür (born 1947), German musician, former member of Kraftwerk
- Wolfgang Gartner (born 1982), electro house DJ
- Wolfgang Herold (born 1961), producer
- Wolfgang Kapp (1858–1922), Prussian civil servant and right-wing nationalist
- Wolfgang Ketterle (born 1957), German physicist
- Wolfgang Klietmann, German pathologist, microbiologist, and businessman
- Wolfgang Kuck (born 1967), German volleyball player
- Wolfgang Langewiesche (1907–2002), German aviation expert and author
- Wolfgang Leonhard (1921–2014), German professor and expert on communism
- Wolfgang Michel-Zaitsu (born 1946), German japanologist
- Wolfgang Niersbach (born 1950), former President German Football Association
- Wolfgang Overath (born 1943), German footballer
- Wolfgang Pagenstecher (1880–1953), German heraldist
- Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958), Austrian-born Swiss American physicist, Nobel Prize
- Wolfgang Petersen (born 1941), German film director
- Wolfgang Preiss (1910–2002), German actor
- Wolfgang Puck (born 1949), American chef
- Wolfgang Priklopil (1962–2006), Austrian criminal, captor of Natascha Kampusch
- Wolfgang Reitherman (1909–1985), German-American animator of classic Disney films
- Wolfgang Schäuble (born 1942), German politician (CDU)
- Wolfgang Schmidt (born 1954), German discus thrower
- Wolfgang Schneiderhan (violinist) (1915–2002), Austrian violinist
- Wolfgang Schneiderhan (general) (born 1946), former German general
- Wolfgang Tillmans (born 1968), German fine-art photographer and artist
- Wolfgang Van Halen (born 1991), American musician and member of Van Halen
- Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734–1804), Hungarian author and inventor
- Wolfgang von Leyden (1911–2004), German philosopher
- Wolfgang Wagner (1919–2010), German opera director
- Wolfgang Weichselbaumer, [hurdy-gurdy craftsman
- Wolfgang Werlé, German murderer
- Wolfgang Weyrauch (1904–1980), German writer and playwright
- Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (1526–1569), 16th-century Duke of Zweibrücken
- Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1492–1566)
- Wolfgang of Regensburg (934–994), Bavarian bishop and Catholic saint (d. 994)
Places
- Wolfgangsee, a lake in Austria
- St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, a market town in central Austria
- Wolfgang Pass, Switzerland
- Sankt Wolfgang, a municipality in the district of Erding in Bavaria, Germany
- Wolfgang's Steakhouse, a steakhouse originating in Manhattan, New York
See also
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957)
- Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (born 1964), formerly of the band Misfits
- Peavey EVH Wolfgang
- Wolf Gang, a British rock band
- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, a 2009 album by the French band Phoenix
- Wolfgang Weyrauch Prize
- Wolfgang (band), a Filipino heavy metal band
References
- ↑ Förstemann ibid., Col. 596
- ↑ http://www.mgh.de/dmgh/resolving/MGH_Libri_mem._N._S._1_S._126*
- ↑ E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), p. 1347.