Gunther

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Gunther

Gender: Masculine
Language: German
Etymology:
Gunther comes from an old Germanic name meaning “War Army” (gunnr, heri).

History:
Gunther is a traditional Germanic name, found in various forms in Ancient Germany and Scandinavia. It has been used from ancient until modern times.

Popularity may have been cemented by the fame of Blessed Gunther (955-1045) a German hermit.

Pronunciation: goon-tar.

Alternates: Gunthar, Gunter.
Danish: Gunder.
Finnish: Gunnar.
Latin: Guntharius, Gundaharius.
Icelandic: Gunnar.
Norwegian: Gunnar.
Swedish: Gunnar.

Famous Bearers:
Artists and Authors:
Gunther Schuller (1925-)
American composer.
Günter Grass (1927-)
German writer.

Miscellaneous:
Gunther Gebel-Williams (1934-2001)
German animal trainer.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
less than 0.004 % named Gunnar, Gunner, etc.

Selected Sources:
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990

The Academy of St. Gabriel, (www.s-gabriel.org) - Has plenty of statistics and articles on medieval names and medieval practices.

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)