Guy

See also: guy, GUY, guþ, and Guy.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ

Etymology 1

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French form of (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  Wido, a short form of names beginning with the element witu "wood" from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *widuz, such as Witold and Widukind. Cognate with Italian Guido.

Proper noun

Guy (plural Guys)

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • 1613 William Shakespeare: King Henry the Eighth: Act V, Scene IV:

     I am not Samson, nor Sir Guy, nor Colbrand, / To mow 'em down before me;

   • 1990 Ruth Rendell: Going Wrong →ISBN page 157:

     "Guy," he said. He said it slowly and with a certain puzzlement. He said it again, thoughtfully, as if it were a name of someone he had known long ago but couldn't quite place. "Guy. Yes - don't you find it difficult being called that? I mean, if Nora hadn't said, I'd have put you down as a Kevin, or a Barry. Yes, Barry would suit you."

     He looked like an innocent child, smiling, wide-eyed, his cheeks plump and rosy, defying the object of his insults to take offence. For they were insults, Guy was in no doubt about that. Leonora's brother was implying that his name was far too upper-class for its possessor.

   • 2016, Nathan Hill, The Nix: A novel, Vintage (→ISBN), page 596

     “She was a new student. I was a counterculture hero. Back then I went by a different name. Sebastian. Sexy, right? And so much better than Guy. You can't be a counterculture hero and a Guy. That name is way too average. […]

2. A patronymic surname transferred from the given name

Related terms

• Wyatt

Translations

male given name

• Armenian: Գվիդոն (Gvidon), Գի (Gi)
• Catalan: Guiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蓋／盖 (zh) (Gài)

• Czech: Kvido
• Esperanto: Vito
• French: Guy (fr)
• Galician: Guido (gl)
• German: Veit (de)
• Hebrew: גאי, גַּיְא (he)
• Hungarian: Gujdó (hu), Vitold (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: Guido (it)
• Latin: Guidus
• Latvian: Gvido m
• Lithuanian: Gvidas
• Polish: Gwido
• Portuguese: Guido (pt)
• Russian: Гай (ru) m (Gaj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: Gvido, Vid (sh)

• Slovene: Gvido
• Spanish: Guido (es)

Noun

Guy (plural Guys)

1. (British) An effigy of Guy Fawkes burned on Bonfire Night

Etymology 2

From the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Hebrew name גַּיְא (gáy, literally “valley”), with the spelling influenced by the existing English name.

Proper noun

Guy

1. A male given name from Hebrew.
2. A surname

Etymology 3

Proper noun

Guy

1. A city in Arkansas.
2. A hamlet in Alberta, Canada.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Guy is the 1,227^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 28,852 individuals. Guy is most common among White (67.88%) and Black (24.98%) individuals.

Anagrams

• yug

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French

Etymology

Middle French Guy < Old French Gui < (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old High German Wido, a short form of names beginning with the element (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡi/

Proper noun

Guy ?

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Guy.

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Norman

Etymology

From an (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French form of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old High German Wido, a short form of names beginning with the element *widuz (“wood”), such as Witold and Widukind.

Proper noun

Guy m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Guy.

Related terms

• Guytounet