Name of the Week: Wilhelmina

 

Origin:

Wilhelmina is the feminine form Wilhelm, the German form of William composed of the Old Germanic elements willio "to wish, desire; be willing; be used to," and helm "helmet, protection, covering."

Usage:

There are a few examples in Latinised records of Williamina in the Middle Ages in England. Other feminised forms appear elsewhere on the Continent including Guillelma in Italy*, Guialma in Spain*, Willelma in Switzerland* and Guillelma, Guillemette and Guillemine in France*. It is quite possible that, as was the case with Philip, girls whose name was Latinised as Williamina in Britain were actually called simply "William" as the vernacular English form. Certainly, the diminutive form Wilmot was used not only for boys named William, but also for girls. By the 16th century, it was predominantly feminine in use, perhaps indicated that Wilmot had become the standard feminine form of William by that time. Given that William was so extremely common from the 11th century onwards, it is surprising that feminised forms of the name didn't see more use. In German-speaking countries, Wilhelmina became established in the 17th century when it was used by royalty. Wilhelmina properly came into its own in Britain in the 18th century, perhaps of the back of other fashionable latinised feminine forms such as Caroline, Christiana, Georgiana and Thomasina, but most likely as it was the first name—though not the regnal name of—King George II's wife, Queen Caroline (1683-1737), born Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline. Oliver Goldsmith used the name for the character Miss Carolina Wilhelmina Amelia Skeggs inThe Vicar of Wakefield (1769) which Goldsmith took from his earlier publication work Citizens of the World (1760) in which there is mentioned a "sweet pretty creature" named Carolina Wilhelmina Amelia Tibbs, most likely after Queen Caroline and her second daughter Princess Amelia. The short-form Wilma came into use in the 19th century. It was rare as an independent name at first, but it became more common at the turn of the 20th century, peaking in the 1940s. Wilhelmina was the dominant spelling of the name in the 19th century in England. It was never especially common, but it was used regularly, as records in the England and Wales Birth Index show: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900:  #296 #225 #199 #174 #187 #189 #178 click to enlarge In Scotland, Wilhelmina was much more commonly used than it was in the rest of Britain in the 19th century. The spelling Williamina was especially common thanks to the Scottish tradition for adding -ina to feminise masculine names: examples in use include Hughina, Magnusina, Andrewina and Donaldina.  As we can see from data from the 1881 UK census (see image, right) both Wilhelmina and Williamina were most popular in Scotland, with the spelling Williamina more common in the Highlands, and Wilhelmina more common in southern Scotland.  In 1900, Williamina ranked #25 and Wilhelmina ranked #60 in Scotland. Also ranking in the Scottish top 100 that year was Christina, Georgina, Robina, Alexandrina, Davina, Alexina and Thomasina. By 1950, Wilhelmina had fallen out of the Scottish top 100, replaced by short-form Wilma at #66. The spelling Williamina was still going strong at #77.  In 1974, Williamina ranked #311 with 8 births, but after that fell steeply out of the top 500 and was rarely used after by the 1990s.  In the last few decades, Wilhelmina has been rare across Britain. In 2017, it ranked #2706 (9 births) in England and Wales and #1537 (1 birth) in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

Royalty: * Princess Wilhelmina Ernestine of Denmark (1650–1706), daughter of Frederick III of Denmark and wife of Charles II, Elector Palatine. * Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick (1673–1742), empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Queen of the Germans. * Wilhelmine of Bayreuth (1709–1758), German princess, sister of Frederick the Great, and composer * Princess Wilhelmina Caroline of Denmark and Norway (1747–1820), daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and wife of William I, Elector of Hesse. * Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange (1750–1820), German princess and consort of William V of Orange. * Wilhelmine of Prussia (1774–1837), German princess and first queen of the Netherlands. * Princess Wilhelmine of Baden (1788–1836), German Grand Duchess of Hess and the Rhine. * Vilhelmine Marie of Denmark (1808–1891), daughter of Frederick VI of Denmark and wife of Frederick VII of Denmark. * Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880–1962), Reigning Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. History: * Wilhelmina Krafft (1778–1828), Swedish painter and miniaturist. * Wilhelmina Gravallius (1809–1884) Swedish writer. * Wilhelmina Drucker (1847–1925) Dutch politician and writer. * Wilhelmina Pruit (1865-1947), American poet. * Wilhelmina von Bremen (1909–1976), German American gold medalist in the Olympics. * Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski (1910–2007), American classical archaeologist. * Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912–2004), British abstract artist. Contemporary: * Wilhelmina Cooper (1939–1980), Dutch-American high-fashion model and founder of Wilhelmina Models. Literature and Other Media: * Wilhelmina "Bill" Robinson, a tomboy character in Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers series.   * Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott, character from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). * Wilhelmina Slater, character from Ugly Betty. * Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, character from the Harry Potter book series. Other: * 392 Wilhelmina, a large main-belt asteroid. * Wilhelmina Bay, a bay in Antarctica.

Variants:

Williamina, Willamina (English), Guglielma, Gulielma (Italian), Guillemine (French)

Pronunciation:

wil-ə-MEE-nə [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Billie, Millie, Mina, Minka, Minna, Minnie, Willa, Willow, Wilma, Winnie

Sibling Names:

Gwendoline     Theodosia     Georgiana     Euphemia     Ursula     Isadora  Valentine     Archibald     Percival     Ferdinand     Quentin      Cornelius

Name Lists:

Royal Names of Europe    Gorgeously Georgian  Victorian Darlings  Upright Elegance   Funky-Clunky   Enid Blyton Names

 

If you like Wilhelmina you may also like:   Philomena, Thomasina, Minerva, Honoria, Philadelphia, Dorothea, Roberta, Millicent, Rowena, Araminta

Thanks to Prue for requesting this name.