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Gideon (name)

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For uses of the name Gideon, see Gideon (disambiguation). For the Biblical military leader and prophet, see Gideon.
Gideon
Pronunciationˈ/ˈɡɪdiən/
GenderMale
Language(s)Hebrew, English, French
Name day26 September (Croatia)
Origin
Word/nameBiblical military leader and judge Gideon
MeaningHewer, feller, One who has a stump in place of a hand,
Other names
See alsoGideon (Bible)
Popularitysee popular names

Gideon (Hebrew: גדעון) is a masculine given name and surname of Hebrew origin which translates to "feller" or "hewer" (i.e. 'great warrior') in Hebrew.[1][2] It can also be interpreted as "One who has a stump in place of a hand" or "One who cuts down". The name originates with the Biblical judge and leader Gideon, who impressed Calvinist groups like English Puritans and French Huguenots with his martial skill and utility. They then adopted it as a Christian name. The given name was first used in the 16th century when it became common to use 'Old Testament'-derived names.[3] The Huguenots used the surrogate variation Gédéon. The name soon lost popularity in the 20th century as it declined to a low of four recorded newborn births in Great Britain during the 1930s with this name. Alternate spellings of this name include Gideone, Guideon, and Gidieon.[citation needed]

The first name started gaining use in the United States in the 1880s and was one of the rarer given names of the late 19th and 20th century. In recent years it has fluctuated in popularity with 1,016 newborns given this name in 2019.[citation needed] The name Gideon is the 308th most common name among U.S. social security statistics as of 2018.[4]

People with the given name

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People with the surname

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See also: Gedeon (surname)

References

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  1. ^ Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Gideon". Behind the Name. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  2. ^ MacLeod, Iseabail; Freedman, Terry (1995). Dictionary of First Names. Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 978-1-85326-366-8.
  3. ^ "What's in a name? A brief history of baby name trends from the Anglo-Saxons to today". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  4. ^ OACT. "Popular Baby Names". www.ssa.gov. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
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