The given name Xavier (/ˈzviər, ˈs-, ˈzævi/, Catalan: [ʃəβiˈe, ʃaviˈeɾ, tʃaviˈeɾ], Galician: [ʃaˈβjeɾ], Portuguese: [ʃɐviˈɛɾ], French: [ɡzavje, ksavje]; Spanish: Javier [xaˈβjeɾ]; Basque: Xabier [ʃaβier])[1] is a masculine name derived from the 16th-century Spanish Navarrese Roman Catholic Saint Francis Xavier.

Xavier
The Castle of Xavier, where Francis Xavier was born, was restored by the Jesuits.
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameCatholic Church
Meaning"Castle" or "new house" in the Basque language
Region of originNavarre
Other names
Related namesJavier, Xaver, Xaveria, Xavi, Xavia, Xaviell, Xaviera, Xaviero, Xever, Xabier, Zavian, Zavier, Chavier, Savielly, Ksawery

Etymology

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Xavier comes from the name of the Jesuit missionary saint Francis Xavier, where Xavier stands for his birthplace of Javier (Xabier in Basque; Xavier in Old Spanish) in the Kingdom of Navarre. The toponym is itself the romanization of the Basque place-name (and surname) etxe berri, meaning 'castle', 'new house' or 'new home'.[2][page needed][3]

Usage in US

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An increase in usage of the name in the US has been attributed to the Marvel comics character Charles Xavier and the X-Men film character based on the comics.[4]

People

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Arts

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Law, military and politics

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Sports

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Other

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Fictional characters

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See also

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In other languages

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  • Javier (Spanish, Portuguese)
  • Ksaveras (Lithuanian)
  • Ksaverij (Ксаверий) (Russian, Ukrainian)
  • Ksawery (Polish)
  • Xawery (Polish)
  • Savielly (Polish)
  • Saverio (Italian)
  • Xabere, Xabel (Asturian)
  • Xabier (Basque)
  • Xaver (Czech, German, Slovakian)
  • Xavér (Hungarian)
  • Xaveriu (Romanian)
  • Xaverius (Dutch, Latin)
  • Sabelius (Latin)
  • Xaveriοs (Ξαβέριος) or (Σαβέριος) (Greek)
  • Xavier (Catalan, English, French, Portuguese, Galician, Swedish)

References

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  1. ^ "Xabier". Behind the Name. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  2. ^ Yáñez Solana, Manuel (1995). El gran libro de los nombres : con una breve biografía de todos los santos y los personajes más famosos correspondientes a cada nombre (in Spanish). Madrid: M.E. Editores. ISBN 84-495-0232-2. OCLC 37613128.
  3. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  4. ^ Sandel, Abby (26 January 2015). "Xavier: Baby Name of the Day". appellationmountain.net. Appellation Mountain. Retrieved 6 November 2023.