Basil - Meaning of Basil

What does Basil mean?

Pronounce
Basil

[ 2 syll. ba-sil, bas-il ] The baby boy name Basil is pronounced as BAEZ-ihL or BEY-ZuwL †.

1: Basil is used mostly in Arabic, Czech, English, French, and German, and it is of Old Greek origin. Basil is of the meaning royal, kingly. Original forms of the name include Basileios (Old Greek) and Basilius (Latin). Saint Basil the Great was a well known 4th-century bishop of Caesarea whose fame contributed to the popularity of the name among early Christians. The name was also borne by two Byzantine emperors. It was later introduced into Western Europe by the returning Crusaders and subsequently adopted by English speakers in the Middle Ages. The popularity of the name saw a substantial revival in the 19th century, promoted by the plant name, which is derived from the same root word 'basileus' for its excellent medicinal qualities. As a first name, Basil shares the same etymology as Rex, which is from the Latin cognate of the same root word. In Britain, the name has in recent times been made known by the anthropomorphic fox puppet Basil Brush which appeared on children's television show in the 1960s, and the character Basil Fawlty from the iconic British sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975-1979).

The name Basil is widely used; it has 48 derivatives that are used in English and other languages. English derivatives include Basal, Base, Basel, Basey, Basileios, Basilic, Basilides, Basilie, Basino, Bassel, Bazeel, Bazeelius, Brasil, Bresal, Vas (used in Russian too), and Vasily (used in Russian too). Other English forms include the shortening Bas, the pet form Baz, and the spelling variant Bazil (used in Czech too).

Derivatives of Basil used in other languages include Bacilio (Spanish), Bale (French), Basile (French), Basilio (Basque, Italian, and Spanish), Basilius (German and Scandinavian), Basilla (Ukrainian), Basle (German and Scandinavian), Bazek (Polish), Bazel (Hungarian), Bazyli (Polish), Breasal (Irish), Pasi (Finnish), Vasil (Czech and Slavic), Vasile (Romanian), Vasilek (Russian), Vasileos (Greek), Vasili (Russian), Vasilije (Slavic), Vasilios (Greek), Vasilis (Greek), Vasiliy (Russian), Vassilios (Greek), Vassily (Russian), Vasya (Russian), Vasyl (Russian and Ukrainian), Vazul (Hungarian), Wasili (Russian), Wassili (Russian), and Wassily (Russian).

2: Basil's origin and use are both in the Arabic language. The meaning here is valiant, brave.

See also the related categories, king, plant (wood), english, latin, excellent (honorable), revival, fox, christians (missionary), europe (continental), word (element), greek, valiant (brave), czech, root, french, german, arabic, and cognate.

Basil is a rare baby name for boys. At the modest peak of its usage in 1911, 0.029% of baby boys were given the name Basil. It ranked at #328 then. The baby name has since suffered a steep loss in popularity, and is now used on an infrequent scale. In 2018, out of the group of boy names directly linked to Basil, Rex was the most commonly used.

Baby names that sound like Basil include Ba'al, Baal, Balou, Basal, Basel, Basile, Basle, Bassel, Baxley, Bazeel, Bazel, Bazil, Beaslea, Beaslee, Beasleigh, Beasley, Beasli, Beaslie, Beasly, and Bekeel.

† English pronunciation for Basil: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; Z as in "zoo (Z.UW)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; EY as in "ate (EY.T)" ; UW as in "two (T.UW)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)"

Details of famous persons named Basil:
Actor Basil Rathbone, born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone, 13 June 1892 - 21 July 1967, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Religious Figure Basil Hume, born George Haliburton Hume, 2 March 1923 - 17 June 1999, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.