Origin and popularity of the name GREGORY

Origin

Gregory : English (of Norman origin) and French: from a personal name that was popular throughout Christendom in the Middle Ages. The Greek original Grēgorios is a derivative of grēgorein ‘to be awake to be watchful’. However the Latin form Gregorius came to be associated by folk etymology with grex gregis ‘flock herd’ under the influence of the Christian image of the good shepherd. The Greek name was borne in the early Christian centuries by two fathers of the Orthodox Church Saint Gregory Nazianzene (c. 325–390) and Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c. 331–395) and later by sixteen popes starting with Gregory the Great (c. 540–604). It was also the name of 3rd- and 4th-century apostles of Armenia. In North America the English form of the surname has absorbed many cognates from other languages e.g. Italian Gregorio German Slovak and Slovenian Gregor Polish Grzegorz Czech Řehoř (see Rehor) and French Gregoire and also their patronymics and other derivatives e.g. Polish Grzegorczyk.

Baseley : from the Middle English personal name Basile or Basily used for men and women alike. It is a post-Conquest borrowing of Old French Basil(e) from Latin Basilius (male derived from Greek basileios ‘kingly’) and its feminine form Basilia. Basilius was the name of several saints including Saint Basil the Great (329–79) the brother of Saint Gregory. For a pet form of the name see Bass. Compare Basil.

Bastiman : perhaps an altered form with voicing of the initial consonant of Middle English pasteman ‘one who makes and sells pastry’ or pastiman ‘one who sells pasties or meat pies’ attested in Galfrido le Pasteman 1290-1 in Norwich Leet Jurisdiction (Norfolk) and Ricardus Pastyman' 1379 in Poll Tax (Bilton with Syningthwaite WR Yorks). Compare Johanne le Pastemakere 1288-9 in Norwich Leet Jurisdiction (Norfolk) Gregory le Pastemakere 1311 in London Letter Books D and John le Pastmaker (also called le Pasteymonger) 1322 in Patent Rolls (Cambridge Cambs).

Leandro : Italian and Spanish: from the personal name Leandro Greek Leandros which is composed of the elements leōs an Attic variant of laos ‘people army’ or leōn ‘lion’ + anēr (genitive andros) ‘man’. In Greek legend Leander is the name of a hero who swam across the Hellespont every night to visit his beloved Hero and back again in the morning but was eventually drowned during a violent storm. The name was also borne by a 6th-century Christian saint who was a leading ecclesiastical figure of his day a friend of Gregory the Great and became archbishop of Seville.

Saintil : Haitian: probably a derivative of the rare Latin personal name Sanctilus (from the adjective sanctus ‘holy’) borne by a man of great virtue mentioned in a dialogue of St. Gregory the Great. Compare Saintilus.

Sansby : probably a variant of Saunby with an intrusive -s-. Compare Gregory de Sandesby 1252 John de Saundeby 1363 in Inquisitiones post Mortem (Upton Notts).

Silvia : Italian (southern) and Portuguese: from the female personal name Silvia. According to classical legend this was the name of the mother of the twins Romulus and Remus founders of Rome. It was a very popular personal name among Christians throughout Europe having been borne by the mother of Pope Gregory the Great a saint in her own right.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 80,974 individuals with the name GREGORY on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name GREGORY