Xavier (given name)
![]() | |
Gender | Male |
---|---|
Origin | |
Word/name | Catholic Church |
Meaning | "Castle" or "new house" in the Basque language |
Region of origin | Navarre |
Other names | |
Related names | Javier, Xaver, Xaveria, Xavi, Xavia, Xaviell, Xaviera, Xaviero, Xever, Xabier, Zavian, Zavier, Chavier, Savielly, Ksawery |
The given name Xavier (/ˈzeɪviər, ˈseɪ-, ˈzævieɪ/, 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.
Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Arts
[edit]- Xavier Abraham (born 1945), Spanish poet
- Xavier Abril (1905–1990), Peruvian poet
- Xavier Armange (born 1947), French writer and illustrator
- Xavier Arsène-Henry (1919–2009), French modernist architect and urban planner
- Xavier Atencio (1919–2017), American animator for The Walt Disney Company
- Xavier Barbier de Montault (1830–1901), French liturgical writer
- Xavier Blum Pinto (born 1957), Ecuadorian artist
- Xavier Boniface Saintine (1798–1865), French dramatist and novelist
- Xavier Cortada (born 1964), Cuban-American painter
- Xavier Cugat (1900–1990), Spanish-Cuban bandleader
- Xavier Davis (born 1971), American jazz pianist
- Xavier de Planhol (1926–2016), French historical scholar
- Xavier Dolan (born 1989), Canadian actor and filmmaker
- Xavier Fagnon (born 1972), French voice actor
- Xavier Forneret (1809–1884), French poet, playwright and writer
- Xavier Fourcade (1926–1987), French American art dealer
- Xavier Herbert (1901–1984), Australian writer
- Xavier Lopez (born 2003), American rapper and record producer
- Xavier Martinez (1869–1943), American artist of Mexican descent
- Xavier Naidoo (born 1971), German singer-songwriter
- Xavier Rudd (born 1978), Australian singer-songwriter
- Xavier Samuel (born 1983), Australian actor
Law, military and politics
[edit]- Xavier Albertini (born 1971), French politician
- Xavier Becerra (born 1958), American politician
- Xavier Bertrand (born 1965), French politician
- Xavier Bettel (born 1973), Luxembourgian politician
- Xavier Bout de Marnhac (born 1951), French military general
- Xavier Brasseur (1865–1912), Luxembourgian politician
- Xavier Breton (born 1962), French politician
- Xavier Connor (1917–2005), Australian judge
- Xavier Coppolani (1866–1905), French military leader
- Xavier Darcos (born 1947), French politician
- Xavier, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (1889–1977), pretender to the defunct throne of Parma, and Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain
- Xavier de Magallon (1866–1956), French poet, translator and politician
- Xavier Sylvestre Yangongo (1946-2024), Central African military general and politician
- Xavier Espot Zamora (born 1979), Andorran politician and current prime minister of Andorra
Sports
[edit]- Xavier Adibi (born 1984), American NFL player
- Xavier Aguado (born 1968), Spanish association football player
- Xabi Alonso (born 1981), Spanish association football player
- Xavier Báez (born 1987), Mexican association football player
- Xavier Barrau (born 1982), French association football player
- Xavier Beitia (born 1982), American AFL and college football player
- Xavier Bertoni (born 1988), French freestyle skier
- Xavier Booker (born 2004), American basketball player
- Xavier Capdevila Romero (born 1976), Andorran ski mountaineer
- Xavier Carter (born 1985), American track and field athlete
- Xavier Chen (born 1983), Belgian association football player
- Xavier Clarke (born 1983), indigenous Australian rules football player
- Xavier Coleman (born 1995), American football player
- Xavier Comas Guixé (born 1977), Andorran ski mountaineer
- Xavier Corosine (born 1985), French basketball player
- Xavier Crawford (born 1995), American football player
- Xavier Daufresne (born 1968), Belgian tennis player
- Xavier Delisle (born 1977), Canadian ice hockey player
- Xavier Dirceu (born 1977), Brazilian association football player
- Xavier Doherty (born 1982), Australian cricketer
- Xavier Dorfman (born 1973), French Olympic rower
- Xavier Downwind (1893–1968), American NFL player
- Xavier Edwards (born 1999), American baseball player
- Xavier Ellis (born 1988), Australian rules football player
- Xavier Eluère (1897–1967), French Olympic boxer
- Xavier Escudé (born 1966), Spanish Olympic field hockey player
- Xavier Florencio (born 1979), Spanish road bicycle racer
- Xavier Fulton (born 1986), American NFL player
- Xavier Gipson (born 2000), American football player
- Xavier Henry (born 1991), American NBA player
- Xavier Hernández Creus, commonly known as Xavi (footballer, born 1980) (born 1980), Spanish association football manager and former player
- Xavier Hutchinson (born 2000), American football player
- Xavier Johnson (born 1999), American basketball player
- Xavier Johnson (American football) (born 1999), American football player
- Xavier Jones (born 1997), American football player
- Xavier Kelly (born 1997), American football player
- Xavier Maassen (born 1980), Dutch racing driver
- Xavier McDaniel (born 1963), American basketball player
- Xavier McKinney (born 1999), American football player
- Xavier Malisse (born 1980), Belgian tennis player
- Xavier Margairaz (born 1984), Swiss association football player
- Xavier Munford (born 1992), American basketball player
- Xavier Nady (born 1978), American former baseball player
- Xavier Newman-Johnson (born 1999), American football player
- Xavier Ouellet (born 1993), French-Canadian ice hockey player
- Xavier Proctor (born 1990), American football player
- Xavier Restrepo (born 2002), American football player
- Xavier Rhodes (born 1990), American football player
- Xavier Rush (born 1977), New Zealand rugby player
- Xavier Silas (born 1988), American basketball player
- Xavier Quentin Shay Simons or Xavi Simons (born 2003), Dutch association football player
- Xavier Sneed (born 1997), American basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Xavier Thomas (born 1999), American football player
- Xavier Tillman (born 1999), American basketball player
- Xavier Woods (American football) (born 1995), American football player
- Xavier Worthy (born 2003), American football player
Other
[edit]- Xavier, Duke of Aquitaine (1753–1754)
- Xabier Arzalluz (1932–2019), Basque nationalist politician
- Xavier Bichat (1771–1802), French anatomist and pathologist
- Xavier Briggs (born 1968), American sociologist
- Xavier Chamorro Cardenal (1932–2008), Nicaraguan journalist
- Xavier Ehrenbert Fridelli (1673–1743), Austrian Jesuit missionary
- Xavier Fernique (1934–2020), French mathematician
- Xavier Mertz (1882–1913), Swiss explorer
- Xavier de Montclos, (1924–2018), French historian of religion
- Xavier Roberts (born 1955), American inventor and manufacturer of Cabbage Patch Kids
- Xavier Rolet (born 1959), French businessman and chief executive officer of the London Stock Exchange
- Francis Xavier Seelos (1819–1867), German Roman Catholic missionary
- Xavier Yap Jung Houn (born 1973), Singaporean convicted double killer of his twin sons
- Xavier Zubiri (1898–1983), Spanish philosopher
Fictional characters
[edit]- Brigadier General Frank Xavier Hummel, antagonist of the film The Rock.
- Xavier Austin, a character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away
- Xavier Bird, a character in Joseph Boyden's novel Three Day Road
- Xavier Desmond, a character in the George R. R. Martin book series Wild Cards
- Xavier Dolls, a character in the supernatural Western TV series Wynonna Earp
- Xavier, the main character of the animated series Xavier: Renegade Angel
- Xavier March, protagonist of Robert Harris' novel Fatherland
- Xavier Quinn, protagonist of the film The Mighty Quinn
- Xavier Harkonnen, a character in the fictional Dune universe
- Xavier Hutchinson, of the reality TV series Earth which premiered on the Seven Network in 1986
- Xavier Benedict, a character in Julia Golding's Finding Sky book trilogy
- Xavier Chavez, a character in the film Saw II
- Xavier Riddle, the main character in the PBS Kids animated series Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
- Xavier Thorpe, a character in the Netflix series Wednesday
See also
[edit]- Xavier (surname)
- Xavier (wrestler) (1977–2020), American wrestler
- Zavier Simpson (born 1997), American basketball player
In other languages
[edit]- 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
[edit]- ^ "Xabier". Behind the Name. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
- ^ Sandel, Abby (26 January 2015). "Xavier: Baby Name of the Day". appellationmountain.net. Appellation Mountain. Retrieved 6 November 2023.