This extremely pretty old Anglo-Saxon name had until lately almost fallen into disuse amongst us. The present (1905) revival of its popularity is doubtless to be attributed to its musical sound, its supposed meaning and the modern love of reverting to our old Anglo-Saxon names. The meaning generally attributed to it is "one that is gentle of speech", but this is not the true meaning, for though mild means mild in Anglo-Saxon and German, red is always a masculine termination in Anglo-Saxon names. Furthermore the original name was Mildthryth: now thryth means commanding or threatening, so that the true meaning of the name is "one who is gently or mildly strict." (Swan)