Xavier (given name)

Xavier
The castle of Xavier, where Francis Xavier was born, was restored by the Jesuits.
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Catholic Church
Meaning	a place called "new house" in Basque language
Other names
Related names	Javier, Xaver, Xaveria, Xavi, Xavia, Xaviell, Xaviera, Xaviero, Xever, Xabier, Zavia, Zavier

The given name Xavier (/ˈzeɪviər, ˈseɪ-, ˈzævieɪ/; Catalan: [ʃəβiˈe, ʃaviˈeɾ]; Galician: [ʃɐviˈɛɾ]; Portuguese: [ʃɐviˈɛɾ]; French: [ɡzavje]; Spanish: Javier [xaˈβjeɾ]; Basque: Xabier [ʃaβiˈer])^[1] is a masculine name derived from the 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic Saint Francis Xavier.

Etymology

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 Navarre. The toponym is itself the romanization of the Basque place-name (and surname) etxe berri, meaning 'new house' or 'new home'.

However, in her 1863 book History of Christian Names, Charlotte Mary Yonge claims that Xavier is a Moorish name, coming from the Arabic name جعفر Jaʻfar, meaning 'splendid'.^[2]

People

Fictional characters

• Brigadier General Frank Xavier Hummel, antagonist of The Rock.
• Professor Xavier, a character in Marvel movies and comics "X-Men".
• Xavier Austin, a character in Australian soap 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 series Wild Cards
• Xavier, the main character of the animated series Xavier: Renegade Angel
• Xavier March, protagonist of Fatherland (novel)
• Xavier Quinn, protagonist of 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 trilogy
• Xavier Chavez, a character in Saw II

See also

• Xavier (surname)

References