Gary

See also: gary

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡæ.ɹɪ/
• (General American)
  • (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɡæ.ɹi/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɛ.ɹi/, /ˈɡe.ɹi/

• Audio (US, without the Mary–marry–merry merger):

  (file)

• Audio (US, Mary–marry–merry merger):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æɹi, -ɛɹi
• Hyphenation: Ga‧ry
• Homophones: gari, Garie, Garre, garri, Garrie, garry, Garry, ghari, gharri, gharry; (Mary–marry–merry merger) Gehry, Gerrie, Gerry

Etymology 1

Medieval short form of Germanic compound names beginning with gari or geri ("spear"), such as Gerard, Gerald, or Gerbert. Cognate with the Scottish and Irish name Garaidh.

The popularity of the given name in the 20th century is due to the American actor Gary Cooper, whose stage name was invented by his agent, a native of Gary, Indiana.

Proper noun

Gary (countable and uncountable, plural Garys)

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s; variant form Garry.
   • 1930, Irving Berlin, “Puttin' On The Ritz”:

     Dressed up like a million dollar trooper / Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper

   • 1964, Anne Tyler, If Morning Ever Comes, Severn House, published 1983, page 52:

     "Gary's an awful name. Whatever he's like. It reminds me of a G.I. man with a crew cut, and 'Mom' tattooed on his chest, and lots of pin-up pictures on his wall."

   • 2016 September 29, Josh Lederman, Patrick Mairs, “Brain freeze? Gary Johnson can’t name favorite world leader”, in PBS NewsHour‎^[1], Associated Press, archived from the original on 8 March 2018:

     Call it a brain freeze, another “Aleppo moment,” or a mere campaign stumble, but Gary Johnson has stumbled again in his quixotic presidential campaign.

2. A surname from Middle English [in turn originating as a patronymic]; variant form Garry.
3. Numerous places in the United States:
   1. A city in Lake County, Indiana, named after American judge and businessman Elbert Henry Gary.
      • 1957 December 19, Meredith Willson, “Gary, Indiana”, in The Music Man:

        Gary, Indiana! ¶ What a wonderful name ¶ Named for Elbert Gary of judiciary fame ¶ Gary, Indiana, as a Shakespeare would say ¶ Trips along softly on the tongue this way--

   2. A neighbourhood of Tampa, Florida.
   3. An unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland.
   4. A minor city in Norman County, Minnesota, named after Garrett L. Thorpe.
   5. A city in Deuel County, South Dakota.
   6. A minor city in McDowell County, West Virginia, named after American judge and businessman Elbert Henry Gary.
   7. Ellipsis of Gary City: a town in Panola County, Texas, United States.

Derived terms

• garyansellite
• Gary City
• Gary Glitter
• Gary Stu
• McGary

Descendants

• → Cebuano: Gary
• → Tagalog: Gary

Translations

male given name

• Arabic: غَارِي (ḡārī)
• Cebuano: Gary
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 加里 (Jiālǐ), 賈利 / 贾利

• Hebrew: גרי m
• Japanese: ガリー, ギャリー, ゲイリー, ゲーリー
• Korean: 게리 (Geri), 개리 (Gaeri)
• Russian: Гэ́ри m (Gɛ́ri), Га́ри m (Gári)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Гери m

  Latin: Gary m, Geri m

• Tagalog: Gary
• Ukrainian: Ге́рі m (Héri)

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of Gary Glitter.

Noun

Gary (plural Garys)

1. Synonym of Gary Glitter (“anus”).

   He did him up the Gary, he did.

Further reading

• “Gary”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Gary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Yarg, ragy, Gray, gyra, gray, yarg

Cebuano

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Gary.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡaɾi/ [ˈɡa.ɾ̪ɪ]
• Hyphenation: Ga‧ry

Proper noun

Gary (Badlit spelling ᜄᜇᜒ)

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Germanic languages]

Tagalog

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Gary.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaɾi/ [ˈɡaː.ɾɪ], /ˈɡeɾi/ [ˈɡɛː.ɾɪ]
• Rhymes: -aɾi, -eɾi
• Syllabification: Ga‧ry

Proper noun

Gary (Baybayin spelling ᜄᜇᜒ or ᜄᜒᜇᜒ)

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Germanic languages]