Guy of Warwick as a courtier and pilgrim; detail of a miniature from BL Royal MS 15 E vi, f. 227r (the "Talbot Shrewsbury Book"). Held and digitised by the British Library.
Gender
Masculine
Language(s)
Norman French version of an old German name
Origin
Meaning
Either wood or wide
Look up Guy or guy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
.
Guy (/ɡaɪ/ghy, French:[ɡi]) is a masculine given name derived from an abbreviated version of a Germanic name that began either with witu, meaning wood, or wit, meaning wide. In French, the letter w became gu and the name became Gy or Guido. In Latin, the name was written as Wido. It was a popular name in Normandy and was used in England as well after the
Norman Conquest.[1] The name was popularized by romantic ballads about the dragon-slaying, giant-fighting folk hero
Guy of Warwick.
Guy Fawkes and the failed 1605
Gunpowder Plot later made the name synonymous with treachery in England. Effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned every year on
Guy Fawkes Night in the United Kingdom. By the early 19th century, the tradition led to Guy being a term in England for a poorly dressed man. In the United States, guy became slang for an
everyman. Its use for characters by
Sir Walter Scott in the 1815 novel Guy Mannering and by
Charlotte Yonge in her 1853 novel The Heir of Redclyffe popularized the name in the United States. In recent years,
Guy Fawkes masks have symbolized resistance to tyranny.[2] Unrelated to this, Guy is also an Anglicization of the
Hebrew name
Hebrew: גיא,
romanized: Gai, which means "
ravine".[3]
Usage
Guy was among the top 1,000 names for boys in the United States between 1880 and 2006 and was among the top 100 names for American boys between 1880 and 1901. It was among the 1,000 most popular names for boys in France between 1900 and 1990 and was a top 100 name for French boys between 1906 and 1970. It has been among the top 1,000 names for boys in the United Kingdom since 1996.[4]
People
Religious figures
Saint Vitus, also known as Saint Guy, early Christian martyr
^Campbell, Mike.
"Guy". www.behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Guy of Warwick as a courtier and pilgrim; detail of a miniature from BL Royal MS 15 E vi, f. 227r (the "Talbot Shrewsbury Book"). Held and digitised by the British Library.
Gender
Masculine
Language(s)
Norman French version of an old German name
Origin
Meaning
Either wood or wide
Look up Guy or guy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
.
Guy (/ɡaɪ/ghy, French:[ɡi]) is a masculine given name derived from an abbreviated version of a Germanic name that began either with witu, meaning wood, or wit, meaning wide. In French, the letter w became gu and the name became Gy or Guido. In Latin, the name was written as Wido. It was a popular name in Normandy and was used in England as well after the
Norman Conquest.[1] The name was popularized by romantic ballads about the dragon-slaying, giant-fighting folk hero
Guy of Warwick.
Guy Fawkes and the failed 1605
Gunpowder Plot later made the name synonymous with treachery in England. Effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned every year on
Guy Fawkes Night in the United Kingdom. By the early 19th century, the tradition led to Guy being a term in England for a poorly dressed man. In the United States, guy became slang for an
everyman. Its use for characters by
Sir Walter Scott in the 1815 novel Guy Mannering and by
Charlotte Yonge in her 1853 novel The Heir of Redclyffe popularized the name in the United States. In recent years,
Guy Fawkes masks have symbolized resistance to tyranny.[2] Unrelated to this, Guy is also an Anglicization of the
Hebrew name
Hebrew: גיא,
romanized: Gai, which means "
ravine".[3]
Usage
Guy was among the top 1,000 names for boys in the United States between 1880 and 2006 and was among the top 100 names for American boys between 1880 and 1901. It was among the 1,000 most popular names for boys in France between 1900 and 1990 and was a top 100 name for French boys between 1906 and 1970. It has been among the top 1,000 names for boys in the United Kingdom since 1996.[4]
People
Religious figures
Saint Vitus, also known as Saint Guy, early Christian martyr
^Campbell, Mike.
"Guy". www.behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.