THE ORIGIN OF NAMES

- G -

GAY
Lynda Gay Harding 1957 - to date
Vivien Gay Hill 1954 - to date
From the English vocabulary word meaning ‘blithe', 'cheerful’. It was not used before the 20th Century and has become out of fashion since the 60s because of the now homosexual meaning of the word.

GERTRUDE
Gertrude Klitz 1886 - 1960
From a Germanic name composed of 'gar' meaning 'spear' + 'traut' meaning 'beloved'.

GILES
Alexander Giles Molden 1983 - to date
From an Old French form of the Greek name Aigidios - a derivative of 'aigidion' meaning kid, young goat.

GEOFFREY
Arthur Geoffrey 1888 - 1897
Norman, of Germanic origin, its meaning disputed. The spelling Geoffrey was at first a variant of Jeffery, but in Britain Geoffrey has become the more usual name.

GEORGE
Georg Philipp 1777 - 1839
George Frederick 1802 - ?
George Philip 1836 - 1881
Stewart George 1875 - 1945
Derived from the Greek, Georgios meaning ‘Earthworker/ husbandman/farmer'. It was the name of several early saints including the shadowy figure of St. George, the patron saint of England and also of Germany and Portugal. If he existed at all, he was perhaps martyred in Palestine, in the persecutions instigated by the Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the 4th Century. The popular legend in which the hero slays the dragon is a medieval Italian invention.
The name was not much used in England, in the Middle Ages, even after St. George came to be Patron Saint of England in the 14th Century.
The real impulse for its popularity was the accession of George I of England, who came from Germany in 1714 which brought many German names.

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