Guy (given name)

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Guy
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.
GenderMasculine
Language(s)Norman French version of an old German name
Origin
MeaningEither wood or wide
Look up Guy or guy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
This is a Guy Fawkes mask

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Guy (/ɡaɪ/, 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[edit]

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[edit]

Religious figures[edit]

Nobility[edit]

Sports[edit]

  • Guy Abrahams (born 1953), Panamanian runner
  • Guy Accoceberry (born 1967), former French rugby union footballer
  • Guy Akpagba (born 1990), Beninese footballer
  • Guy Allen (born 1958), ProRodeo Hall of Fame cowboy
  • Guy Amouretti (1925–2011), male French international table tennis player
  • Guy Azouri (born 1963), Israeli football manager
  • Guy Barnea (born 1987), Israeli Olympic swimmer
  • Guy Barrabino (1934–2017), French fencer
  • Guy Basquet (1921–2006), French rugby union player
  • Guy Benjamin (born 1955), former American football quarterback
  • Guy Callaghan (born 1970), New Zealand butterfly swimmer
  • Guy Carbonneau (born 1960), retired French-Canadian hockey player and former NHL head coach
  • Guy Charron (born 1949), retired French Canadian hockey player and former NHL head coach
  • Guy Chouinard (born 1956), retired French Canadian hockey player
  • Guy Forget (born 1965), retired French tennis player
  • Guy Goodes (born 1971), Israeli basketball player and coach
  • Guy Hebert (born 1967), retired American hockey goalie
  • Guy Lafleur (1951–2022), French Canadian Hall of Fame hockey player
  • Guy Lapébie (1916–2010), French cyclist
  • Guy Lapointe (born 1948), retired French Canadian Hall of Fame hockey player
  • Guy Murray, American track/cross country coach and former marathon runner
  • Guy Nosbaum (1930–1996), French Olympic medalist rower
  • Guy Palatin (born 2000), Israeli basketball player
  • Guy Pnini (born 1983), Israeli basketball player
  • Guy Roux (born 1938), French football player and manager of AJ Auxerre (1961–2008)
  • Guy Starik (born 1965), Israeli Olympic sport shooter
  • Guy Toindouba (born 1988), Cameroonian football midfielder
  • Guy Turnbow (1908–1975), American football player
  • Guy Whittall (born 1972), retired Zimbabwean cricket player
  • Guy Whittingham (born 1964), British footballer

Other[edit]

Fictional characters[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  2. ^ Evans, Cleveland Kent (15 August 2021). "Cleveland Evans: The romantic — and rebellious — history of Guy". omaha.com. Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Appendix:Hebrew given names - Wiktionary". En.wiktionary.org. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2018-03-19.[better source needed][circular reference]
  4. ^ Campbell, Mike. "Guy". www.behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
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