Walburga
A German name built from `wald`, "to rule", and `burg`, "fortress": the ruler of the fortress. Only around 176 women in Poland carry it and none has been given it in years, so meeting one would stay with you.
Walburga Pronunciation
Walburga is pronounced vahl-BOOR-gah (/valˈburga/).
What Walburga means
Where Walburga comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Walburga is built from two Germanic words, `wald` "to rule" and `burg` "fortress." Put together they mean ruler of the fortress, in Polish władca twierdzy. The parts sit plainly on the surface.
The best-known bearer is Saint Walburga, an Anglo-Saxon nun who crossed to Frankish lands in the eighth century to work as a missionary. After her death her cult spread widely across the German-speaking world, and her feast near the first of May gave its name to Walpurgisnacht, the night of 30 April. That single association did more for the name than any king or noble house.
In Poland the name stayed rare and firmly German, most at home in Silesia. A child entered as Walburga on a school register marks a family with roots to the west. The meaning does not drift: władca twierdzy, ruler of the fortress.
When Walburga celebrates name day
Walburga appears 2 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 25 February.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Walburga
1 in 128090 women in Poland is named Walburga. 176 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2402 among female names.
Walburga as a middle name
Walburga is a first name for 176 women in Poland and a middle name for another 104, a 63/37 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 656th, between Tina (104) and Joan (103).
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#654 Luise104
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#655 Tina104
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#656 Walburga104
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#657 Joan103
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#658 Hilda102