Gundahad's brother Gundahar had a name derived from history, originating as the Germanic name of a Burgundian King. Gundahad himself, however, does not seem to have had such a historical forebear, and so it seems that Tolkien devised the name to follow the same pattern as that of his brother. The first element comes from gunþ-, 'war', but the origin of the second element is less clear. It perhaps derives from -hād, meaning 'rank' or 'office', so Gundahad would have a 'war-chief' or 'war-leader', but this connection is necessarily speculative.
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