Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German sigu "victory" + munt "hand, protection". Tacitus Latinises it Segimundus. There appears to be an older form of the High German word "Sieg" (victory): sigis, obviously Gothic and an inferred Germanic form, and there is a younger form: sigi, which is Old Saxon or Old High German sigu (both from about 9th century). A 5th century Prince of Burgundy was known both as Sigismund and Sigimund (see Ernst Förstemann, Altdeutsche Personennamen, 1906; Henning Kaufmann, Altdeutsche Personennamen, Ergänzungsband,1968).
A Lithuanian name Žygimantas, meaning "wealth of (military) campaign", from Lithuanian žygis "campaign, march" + manta "goods, wealth" has been a substitution of the name Sigismund in the Lithuanian language, from which it was adopted by the Ruthenian language as Жыгімонт (such are the cases of Sigismund Kestutaitis, Sigismund Korybut, Sigismund I the Old, Sigismund II Augustus). The Polish spelling is Zygmunt, and the Croatian variant is Žigmund.
Sigismund was the name of various European rulers:
Saint Sigismund of Burgundy (died 523), King of the Burgundians
Sigismund I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died 1405)
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368–1437), also King of Hungary and King of Bohemia
Sigismund Kęstutaitis (c. 1365–1440), Grand Duke of Lithuania
Sigismund Korybut (c. 1395-c. 1435), Lithuanian duke who participated in Hussite Wars
Sigismund II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died after 1452)
Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (1427–1496), ruler of Further Austria
Sigismund of Bavaria (1439–1501), Duke of Bavaria
Sigismund I the Old (1467–1548), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania
Sigismund von Herberstein (1486–1566), Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council
Sigismund II Augustus (1520–1572), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania
Sigismund of Brandenburg (1538–1566), Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg and Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt
Sigismund Rákóczi (died 1608), briefly Prince of Transylvania
Sigismund III Vasa (1566–1632), King of Poland, Sweden and Grand Duke of Lithuania
Sigismund Báthory (1572–1613), Prince of Transylvania
Sigismund Francis of Austria (1630–1665), ruler of Further Austria
Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864-1866)
Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896–1978)
Ishak Bey Kraloğlu or Sigismund of Bosnia (born in the 1450s?), son of King Stephen Thomas of Bosnia
Archduke Sigismund, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1966)
Others named Sigismund include:
Sigismund Albicus (c. 1360–1427), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague
Sigismund Bachrich (1841–1913), Hungarian composer, violinist and violist
Sigismund Payne Best (1885–1978), British secret agent during the First and Second World Wars
Sigismund von Braun (1911–1998), German diplomat and Secretary of State
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), Austrian founder of psychoanalysis born Sigismund Schlomo Freud
Sigismund Gelenius (1497–1554), eminent Greek scholar and humanist
Sigismund von Götzen (1576–1650), German diplomat and politician
Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825), Bishop of Linz
Sigismund Koelle (1820–1902), German missionary and pioneer scholar of African languages
Sigismund Ernst Richard Krone (1861–1917), German naturalist, zoologist, spelunker, archaeologist and researcher
Sigismund von Neukomm (1778–1858), Austrian composer and pianist
Sigismund Felix Freiherr von Ow-Felldorf (1855–1936), Bishop of Passau
Sigismund von Reitzenstein (1766–1847), first minister of state of the Grand Duchy of Baden
Sigismund von Schlichting (1829–1909), Prussian general and military theorist
Sigismund von Schrattenbach (1698–1771), Archbishop of Salzburg
Sigismund Streit (1687–1775), German merchant and art patron in Venice
Sigismund Zaremba (1861–1915), Ukrainian and Russian composer
Sigismund Zinzan, an equerry to Queen Elizabeth I of England
Sigismund may also refer to fictional characters:
Segismundo, main character of Calderón de la Barca's La vida es sueño.
Segismundo, 21st-century hero of the dramatic novel "United States of Banana" by Giannina Braschi, based on Calderón de la Barca's Life is a Dream.
Sigismund, a character from the Warhammer 40,000 game series, First Captain of the Imperial Fists Legion and later founder and first High Marshall of the Black Templars Chapter
Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, fictional King of Bohemia in "A Scandal in Bohemia" (Sherlock Holmes adventure)
Sigismund the mad maths teacher, a character in the Nigel Molesworth school stories
Sigismund Dijkstra, a character from The Witcher book and video game series. Head of Redanian Intelligence (secret service), later leader of a criminal faction aliased as "Sigi Reuven".
Other things named Sigismund:
Sigismund Bell, a famous bell in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, cast in 1520
