Boy · Germanic, through French
Guy
Say it: GY
Meaning
From Germanic Wido, perhaps from witu 'wood' or wid 'wide'; the source is uncertain.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Effigies of Guy Fawkes gave English the word 'guy'.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1880s
In the United States
- 90,520 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1880, about 1 in 462 boys
- 129 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Gui, Wido
| French | Guy |
|---|---|
| Italian | Guido |
| Spanish | Guido |
| German | Wido |
Famous bearers
- Guy Fawkes, Gunpowder Plot conspirator
- Guido of Arezzo, music theorist
- Guy of Warwick, legendary hero
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Domesday Book (1086) source
- Well-known works of literature
- Medieval European charters and records
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.