Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon form Éadweard, composed of the elements ' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and ' "guardian, protector".
History
The name Edward was popular in Anglo-Saxon England, but the rule of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties had effectively ended its use amongst the upper classes. The popularity of the name was revived when King Henry III of England named his firstborn son, the future Edward I of England, Edward as part of his efforts to promote a cult around Edward the Confessor, whom Henry had a deep admiration for.Variant forms
The name has been adopted in the Iberian peninsula since the 15th century, due to Edward, King of Portugal, whose mother was English. The Spanish/Portuguese forms of the name are Eduardo and Duarte. Other variant forms include French Édouard, Italian Edoardo, German and Dutch Eduard and Scandinavian/Czech Edvard.Short forms include Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, Teddy and Ned. Edward can be abbreviated as Edw.
People called Edward
Medieval
- Edward the Elder, the son of Alfred the Great
- Edward the Martyr, English king and Christian martyr
- Edward the Confessor, English King; patron saint of England until 1348
- Edward I of England, called Longshanks; conqueror of Wales
- Edward Balliol, pretender to the Scottish throne during the reign of David II
- Edward II of England, deposed in January 1327, probably murdered
- Edward III of England, one of the most successful English kings of medieval times
- Edward, the Black Prince, eldest son of King Edward III
- Edward, Duke of Guelders
- Edward IV of England, older brother of Richard III, father of Edward V
- Edward V of England, one of the princes in the Tower
- Edward VI of England, the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
Modern
- Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern, Count Palatine
- Lord Edward FitzGerald, Irish aristocrat and revolutionary
- Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the son of George III, father of Queen Victoria
- Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the son of Queen Victoria
- Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, the son of George V, abdicated
- Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, grandson of George V
- Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, the son of Queen Elizabeth II
- Edward Dembowski, Polish leftist, philosopher and columnist
- Edward Gierek, First Secretary of Polish United Workers Party from 1970 to 1980
- Edward Heath, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Edward Stanley Kellogg, 16th Governor of American Samoaformer United States senator
- Edward Kennedy, better known as Ted Kennedy
- Ed Miliband, former leader of the UK Labour Party
- Ed Murray, Democratic politician and former Mayor of Seattle
- Edward L. Romero, entrepreneur and American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra between 1998 and 2001
- Edward Stettinius, Jr., former United States Secretary of State
- Edward Maria Wingfield, English colonist, soldier
- Edward Youde, 26th Governor of Hong Kong
- Edward Barker, English cartoonist who signed his drawings simply as Edward
- Edward Blishen, English author
- Ed Byrne, Principal of King's College London and former Vice-Chancellor of Monash University
- Edward Duyker, Australian historian.
- Edward Elgar, English composer with Anglo-Saxon first and last names
- Edward Gorey, American illustrator
- Edward Gould, English animator and creator of Eddsworld
- Edward Grimes, one of the two members of Irish pop duo Jedward
- Edward Hopper, American realist painter
- Edward Jayakody, Sri Lankan Sinhala musician and composer
- Edward Killy, American filmmaker
- Edward Daniel Leahy, Irish painter
- Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist
- Edward Norton, American actor
- Edward John David "Eddie" Redmayne, Academy Award winning English actor
- Edward Said, Palestinian-American academic
- Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter and musician
- Edward van de Vendel, Dutch author of children's literature
- Edward "Eddie" Van Halen, Dutch-American musician
- Ed Gainey, American player of Canadian football
- Eddie Guerrero, American professional wrestler
- Ed Hochuli, NFL Official
- Ed Hodgkiss, American football coach
- Edward Lawrence Levy, English world champion weightlifter
- Ed Mieszkowski, American football player
- Edward Weitz, Israeli Olympic weightlifter
- Edward Allaway, American mass murderer who perpetrated the 1976 California State University, Fullerton, massacre
- Edward Rohan Amerasekera, first indigenous Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force
- Edward Brown, involved in a tax dispute with the U.S. government
- Edward Douglas, Scottish Roman Catholic
- Edward W. Edwards, American serial killer and arsonist
- * Edward Edwards
- Edward "Ed" Gein, American murderer and suspected serial killer
- Edward Snowden, American who disclosed National Security Agency secrets
- Edward J. Steimel, American columnist, political activist, and lobbyist
People surnamed Edward
- John Edward, professional name of John Edward McGee, Jr., American self-proclaimed psychic
- Trevelyan Edward, Sri Lankan cricketer
Fictional characters
- Ed, Edd n Eddy, television show, as well as main characters thereof
- Edward, fictional platypus from Camp Lazlo
- , a character in '
- , a main character and assassin from the ' series
- Edward Bear, mock "formal" name for a teddy bear—another name for Winnie-the-Pooh
- Edward the Blue Engine, a character from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
- Eddie Brock, Marvel Comics character in some notable Spider-Man stories
- Edward Bunnigus, a fictional character in the webcomic Schlock Mercenary
- Edward Cullen, the vampire love-interest in the fantasy/romance novels of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series
- Edward Elric, the protagonist in the anime/manga series, Fullmetal Alchemist
- Edward Ferrars, character in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- Edward Elizabeth Hitler, a character from Bottom
- Edward Hyde, the title character's evil alter ego in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Edward James Kenway, the protagonist of '
- Edward ‘Teddy’ Remus Lupin, the son of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin née Tonks, appears in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Edward Mars, the shipwrecked marshal in Lost
- Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates in One Piece
- Edward Nigma, The Riddler, Batman villain
- Edward Richtofen, a sociopathic German scientist from ' and appears in the Nazi Zombies mode as well as in ' and '
- Edward Fairfax Rochester, the love interest of Jane in Jane Eyre
- Edward Scissorhands, movie directed by Tim Burton and written by Caroline Thompson, and its title character
- Edward "Stubbs" Stubblefield, the fictional undead from the Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse video game
- Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, fantasy version of an historical figure of the same name, in the fourth "Jack Sparrow" movie,
- Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, a wild little girl from the anime Cowboy Bebop
- Edward Chris von Muir, "spoony bard" of Final Fantasy IV
- Mister Ed, the talking horse, from the television series of the same name
- Edward the Butler, a character played by Lachlan Walker in the web-series Corner Shop Show.