Leonhard

Leonhard is the German form of Leonard, a name of Old High German origin composed of the elements lewo (lion, borrowed from Latin leo) and hart (hard, brave, strong), giving an overall sense of lion-bold or strong as a lion. The name was popularized in medieval Europe largely through the veneration of Saint Leonard of Noblac, a sixth-century Frankish hermit who became the patron saint of prisoners and the sick. Leonhard Euler, the eighteenth-century Swiss mathematician, is among the most celebrated bearers of the name in the modern era. Closely related forms include Leonard in English, Leonardo in Italian and Spanish, and Lennart in Scandinavian languages.