Astrid

Astrid, Estrid, Æstriðr or Ástríðr is a given name of North Germanic origin. It comes from Old Norse Ásfríðr (Divine Beauty), from áss (god) + fríðr (beautiful).

Names derived from Astrid include the name Astrida, which is a somewhat common name for girls in the country of Latvia. The name Astrida may have originated when the city of Butare in Rwanda was renamed by its Belgian colonial rulers in honor of Queen Astrid, or by following an Eastern European regional convention of adding the letter 'a' to the end of a name to denote the name as being that of a female.

One Viking queen of Norway was named Astrid:

• Queen Astrid (Astrid Eiriksdottir), daughter of Eirik Bjodaskalle and mother of Olav Tryggvason (Olaf I of Norway) who ruled Norway from 995-1000 and was known for converting Norwegian Vikings to Christianity.

• Estrid Margarete Svendsdatter was a princess and sister of Cnut.

Two members of the Belgian royal family have been named Astrid. They include:

• Queen Astrid of the Belgians (1905-1935), wife of King Léopold III, former princess of Sweden.
• Princess Astrid of Belgium (1962 - ), daughter of King Albert II

One member of the current Norwegian Royal Family has been named Astrid:

• Princess Astrid of Norway (1932 - ), sister to King Harald, married to Johan Martin Ferner in 1961.

Other Astrids include:

• Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author
• Astrid Kirchherr, German photographer and artist
• Astrid Strauß, East German swimmer
• Astrid Duffy, up and coming British writer
• Astrid Williamson, Scottish musician
• Astrid Thiebault, French photographer and artist
• Asteroid 1128 Astrid, namesake of the Astrid family of asteroids.
• Astrid (band) a disbanded music group from the Isle of Lewis.
• Astrid Award is a group of six categories of awards in communication arts and sciences.
• Astrid-1 and 2 were two scientific microsatellites developed by Swedish Space Corporation
• ASTRID particle storage ring, a dual-mode ring which can store electrons or ions of either polarity, in Aarhus.
• Astrid Storm, An episcopal priest
• Astrid Carolina Herrera, Miss World 1984,from Venezuela
• The name of the Crayven Corporation military starship from the real time strategy game Ground Control, created by Swedish developers Massive Entertainment. The ship also makes an appearance in the sequel Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus.
• Astrid Malagon, an aspiring actress who has been in various plays. She onced resided in New York, but then moved to Florida.
• Astrid Moreno sawtbil klinikal instraktor
• Astrid Betancourt sister of Columbian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt
• Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer

Fictional characters

• Astrid Peth is the name of the Companion in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special Voyage of the Damned
• Astrid Ferrier is the name of the main guest protagonist in the 1967-8 Doctor Who serial, The Enemy of the World
• A young female character, obsessed with J.R.R. Tolkien and archery from an alternate history series beginning with S. M. Stirling's Dies the Fire.
• Protagonist in White Oleander, a troubled teen who struggles through foster care
• A character from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
• The name of the clairvoyant who resides in the Isle of Ember from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Pulling an 'astrid' - Because U isn't for echo

Variations

Estrids include:

• Estrid of the Obotrites, a Swedish queen.
• Estrid, an 11th century Swedish lady whose saga is immortalized on six or seven runestones.