Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Meaning
Meaning uncertain, possibly a Latinized form of a Germanic name derived from the elements hrod “fame” and wunn “joy, bliss”. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the name of a daughter of the Saxon chief Hengist. Alternatively, Geoffrey may have based it on a Welsh name. It was popularized by Sir Walter Scott, who used it for a character in his novel Ivanhoe (1819).