Detail of a sculpture of the Germanic seeress Veleda, Hippolyte Maindron, 1844
- Origin: Old Norse
- Gender: feminine
The name is Old Norse and can either be derived from the Old Norse vǫlva meaning “fortune-teller, prophet,” or a short form of any Norse name beginning in the Valr element, which might relate to valr “slain” as in Valhalla (hall of the slain) or the Old High Germanic, walah meaning foreigner; stranger”; later “Welsh.”
The name’s use was first recorded in Sweden in 1876, but may have been used in Norse times as well.
Another form is Valva.
Sources