Date
Meaning & History
From the forest known as Arduenna Silva in the Roman period; Arduenna probably derives from a Gaulish cognate of the Brythonic word ardu, as in Irish ard "high". The second element may be related to the Celtic element *windos, as in the Welsh gwyn/gwen ("fair, blessed"), which suggests an original meaning of "forest of blessed heights", a derivation likely shared with numerous Arden place names in Britain.Ardenne is a region of mountainous forests in Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, and France, where it gives its name to Ardennes department and the former Champagne-Ardenne region.