Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian and German first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used which comes from the Latin version Canutus, and in Finland, the name Nuutti is based on the name Knut. The name is derived from the Old Norse Knútr meaning "knot". In English the K is not mute, so the name is not properly pronounced nut or nute.
It is the name of several medieval kings of Denmark, two of whom also reigned over England during the first half of the 11th century.
Contents
People
Harthaknut I of Denmark (Knut I, Danish: Hardeknud) (b. c. 890), king of Denmark
Knut the Great (Knut II, Danish: Knud den Store or Knud II) (d. 1035), Viking king of England, Denmark and Norway
Subject of the apocryphal King Canute and the waves
Harthaknut (Knut III, Danish: Hardeknud or Knud III) (d. 1042), king of Denmark and England
Saint Knud IV of Denmark (Danish: Knud IV), king of Denmark (r. 1080–1086) and martyr
Knud Lavard (d. 1131), Danish prince and saint
Knud V of Denmark (Danish: Knud V), king of Denmark (r. 1146–1157)
Knut Eriksson, king of Sweden (r. 1173–1195)
Knut Långe, king of Sweden (r. 1229–1234)
Knud VI of Denmark (Danish: Knud VI), king of Denmark (r. 1182–1202)
Knut Wicksell (1851–1926), Swedish economist
Knut Wallenberg (1853–1938), Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs and banker
Knut Hamsun (1859–1952), Norwegian author
Knud Rasmussen (1879–1933), Greenlandic polar explorer and anthropologist
Knute Rockne (1888–1931), American football player and coach
Knute Cauldwell (1896–1952), American football player
Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (1900–1976), younger son of King Christian X
Knud Reimers (1906–1987), Danish yacht designer
Knut Haukelid (1911–1994), American-born Norwegian soldier and resistance fighter
Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (1915–2007), Norwegian-born American biologist
Knut Haugland (1917–2009), Norwegian resistance fighter and explorer
Knut Risan (1930–2011), Norwegian actor
Knud Heinesen (1932–2025), Danish politician
Knut Hergel (1899–1982), Norwegian actor
Knut Frydenlund (1927–1987), Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Knut Engdahl (born 1933), Norwegian politician
Knut Vollebæk (born 1946), Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Knut Knudsen (born 1950), Norwegian cyclist, Olympic and World Champion
Knut Hamre (born 1952), Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player
Knute Berger – American journalist, writer and editor (born 1953)
Knut Fleckenstein (born 1953), German politician
Knut Petter Torgersen (born 1955), Norwegian politician
Knut Storberget (born 1964), Norwegian politician and former Minister of Justice
Knut Abraham (born 1966), German politician
Knut Reinhardt (born 1968), German footballer
Knut Arild Hareide (born 1972), leader of Norway's Christian Democratic Party, and a former Minister of the Environment
Knut Schreiner (born 1974), Norwegian guitarist for Turbonegro, Euroboys, Mirror Lakes, and music producer
Fictional characters
Adonis Cnut, Rik Mayall's character in the sitcom Believe Nothing