Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name Hugues, itself the Old French variant of Hugo, a short form of Continental Germanic given names beginning in the element hug- "mind, spirit" (Old English hyġe). The Old High German name Hugo was adopted as third declension nominative into Middle Latin (Hugo, Hugonis); in English, however, historical figures of the continental Middle Ages are conventionally given the name in its modern English spelling, as in Hugh Capet (941–996), Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), Hugh of Cluny (1024–1109), Hugh of Châteauneuf (1053–1132), etc.