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Clovis is the modern conventional French (and thence English) form of the Old Frankish name ᚺᛚᛟᛞᛟᚹᛁᚷ (in runic alphabet) or *"Hlōdowik" or "Hlōdowig" (in Latin alphabet), equivalent to the modern forms Louis (French), Lodewijk (Dutch), Lewis (English), and Ludwig (German).
The name *Hlōdowik or *Hlōdowig is traditionally considered to be composed of two elements, deriving from both Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz ("loud, famous") and *wiganą ("to battle, to fight") respectively, resulting in the traditional practice of translating Clovis' name as meaning "famous warrior".
However, scholars have pointed out that Gregory of Tours consequently transcribes the names of various Merovingian royal names containing the first element as chlodo-. The use of a close-mid back protruded vowel (o), rather than the expected close back rounded vowel (u) which Gregory does use in various other Germanic names (i.e. Fredegundis, Arnulfus, Gundobadus, etc.) opens up the possibility that the first element instead derives from Proto-Germanic *hlutą ("lot, share, portion"), giving the meaning of the name as "loot bringer" or "plunder (bringing) warrior". This hypothesis is supported by the fact that if the first element is taken to mean "famous", then the name of Chlodomer (one of Clovis' sons) would contain two elements (*hlūdaz and *mērijaz) both meaning "famous", which would be highly uncommon within the typical Germanic name structure.[1][2]
- Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler
- Clovis II (637 – c. 658), king of Neustria and Burgundy
- Clovis III (reigned 675–676), the king of Austrasia
- Clovis IV (682–695), the sole king of the Franks from 691 until 695
- Clovis (died 580), son of Chilperic I and Audovera, assassinated by his father and stepmother
- Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, King of Aquitaine from 781 and sole ruler of the Franks 814–840, but counted as "Louis I of France" even though West Francia (the nucleus of the later kingdom of France) was formed only after his death.
Because of the importance of Clovis I in the national historiography of France, the form Clovis has been occasionally revived beginning in the 19th century. In the same period, the form Chlodwig has seen some limited use in Germany.[3]
- Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1819–1901)
- Clovis Hugues (1851–1907), French author
- Chlodwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1876–1954)
- Clovis Trouille (1889–1975), French painter
- Clovis-Thomas Richard (1892–1976), Canadian politician
- Clovis Renaison (1892–1989), French Senator
- Clovis E. Byers (1899–1979), American general
- Clovis Maksoud (1926–2016), American diplomat and journalist
- Clovis Cornillac (born 1967), French actor
- Clovis Kamdjo (born 1990), Cameroonian football player
- Clovis la Britannia, a character in the anime series Code Geass
- Clovis, the main antagonist in the 1997 Blade Runner video game
- Clovis Sangrail, a character in the short stories of Saki
- Clovis, a minor character in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series
- Clovis, a major supporting character in Keith Knight's Woke series
- Rush Clovis, supporting character in the Star Wars Universe who appears in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Clovis Bray, a character appearing in the lore of the games Destiny and Destiny 2 and later revealed as a character in Destiny 2: Beyond Light
- Corey Martin Craig plays Clovis, Pee-wee Herman's band mate in the Renegades 'Pee-wee's Big Holiday', 2016
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