Maude as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Maude

What is the meaning of the name Maude ?

The baby name Maude is a Female name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /mɔːd/ or /mɑːd/ (MAWD or MAHD).

Maude is Germanic in Origin.

Maude descends from the Germanic Matilda, built from maht “might, strength” and hild “battle,” yielding the meaning “mighty in battle.” Through Norman French forms Mahaut and Maud it settled into Middle English as Maud/Maude; the final -e is a later English spelling flourish. Close relatives include Maud, Matilda, Mathilde (French, German, Scandinavian), Matylda (Polish), and Mafalda (Italian/Portuguese), with pet forms Maudie, Tilda, and Tilly.

Carried to England by the Normans, the name was favored among medieval nobility: Empress Matilda was commonly styled Maud, and the British-born Queen Maud of Norway cemented the form in Scandinavia. Victorian taste revived Maude - helped by Tennyson’s 1855 poem - and it ranked highly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before declining mid-century. Today Maude reads vintage yet strong, a brisk alternative to Matilda.