George (given name)
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| Pronunciation | /ˈdʒɔːrdʒ/ |
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| Gender | Mainly Male |
| Name day | April 23 |
| Word/name | Greek: Γεώργιος (Georgios) |
| Meaning | He who works the land |
| Related names | Georgios, Giorgos, გიორგი (Giorgi), Георги (Georgi), Giorgio, Georgia, Georgina, Georgette, Georgetta, Gjergj, Gogo, Jorge, Jørgen, Jay, Joe, Jurayj, Örjan, Yuri, Yrjö. |
George is a widespread given name, derived from the Greek Γεώργιος (Geōrgios) through the Latin Georgius. While it is commonly a masculine name, in English it is also sometimes given as a feminine name. Its popularity is due to the widespread veneration of the Christian military saint Saint George (George of Lydda c. 275/281–303).
The name derives in origin from the name of Zeus Georgos, worshipped as a god of crops.
The noun γεωργός geōrgos "husbandman, farmer" and the verb γεωργέω geōrgeō "to be a farmer; to plow, till, cultivate" are attested in Attic Greek, in the works of Plato and Aristophanes. The word geōrgos "husbandman, farmer" was one of Zeus's epithets in Athens: Ζεύς Γεωργός (Zeus Geōrgos), the god of crops and harvest.Aelius Herodianus in the 2nd century lists Georgios alongside Demetrios and Ammonios as a theophoric name derived from the theonym by -ios. It is likely that the historical Saint George (Georgios) was born in Lydda, Syria Palaestina in c. 280 as the son of a Greek Christian nobleman from Cappadocia. After his martyrdom in 303, the name Georgios soon became used more widely among Christians in the Eastern Empire.
By the 7th century, at least 25 bishops in Anatolia and the Aegean had taken the Saint's name. In the late 7th century, when much of the former Eastern Empire fell to the Rashidun conquests, refugees came to Byzantine-controlled Rome and during that time, "eastern" names began to gain popularity in the Latin world. The cult of St. George was probably brought to Italy by soldiers from the Anatolic Theme, and established itself from about the mid-7th century; by the 680s, Roman priests named Georgios were no rarity. The given name did not, however, establish itself in the west among laymen until the end of the early medieval period. The cult of St. George was greatly boosted during the age of the Crusades (see also Golden Legend), and the name was widespread at the European courts by the 13th century.
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