The name Filibert comes from Germanic filu (an intensifier meaning 'much' or 'great') and beraht ('bright', 'brightness'). Historically the name belonged to the Saint Filibert or Philibert of Jumièges, who lived during the seventh century. That saint's feast day happened to fall at a time of year when the nuts of the hazel tree ripen, and so hazel was sometimes known by a contracted version of the name, 'filbert'. That old name for hazel is used in The Lord of the Rings, though the fact that this connection runs through a historical figure means that the Hobbits themselves would probably not have recognised a similar connection in their own language.