Basil (name) explained
| Basil |
| Pronunciation: | , |
| Gender: | Male and Female |
| Meaning: | "royal, kingly, brave, valiant, chivalrous" in Greek; "brave, fearless, intrepid" in Arabic |
| Origin: | Greek, Arabic |
The name Basil (royal, kingly) comes from the male Greek name Vassilios (female version Greek, Modern (1453-);: Bασιλεία), which first appeared during the Hellenistic period. It is derived from "basileus" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: βασιλεύς|links=no), a Greek word of pre-Hellenic origin, meaning "king", from which words such as basilica and basilisk (via Latin) as well as the eponymous herb basil (via Old French) derive, and the name of the Italian region Basilicata, which had been long under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor (also called basileus).
It was brought to England by the Crusaders, having been common in the eastern Mediterranean. It is more often used in Britain and Europe than in the United States. It is also the name of a common herb.
In Arabic, Bas(s)el (Arabic: باسل, bāsil) is a name for boys and girls that means "brave, fearless, intrepid".[1]
Different derived names in different languages include Barsegh in Armenian; Basile in French; Basilius in German; Basilio in Italian and Spanish; Basílio in Portuguese; Basileo in Galician; Vasyl in Ukraine; Vasile in Romanian; Vasil in Bulgarian; Vasilije in Serbian; Vasily in Russian; Bazil, Bazsó, Vászoly and Vazul in Hungarian.
Basil may refer to the following people:
Rulers
Generals
Religious figures
- Basil of Caesarea (330–379), also known as Saint Basil the Great, a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea
- Basil the Elder, father of Basil the Great and saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Basil of Ancyra (died 362), a 4th-century martyr
- Basil of Amasea, a fourth-century Christian bishop and martyr
- Basil I of Bulgaria, the first Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (c. 1186 – c. 1232) after restoring Tarnovo Patriarchate
- Basil II of Bulgaria, Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (c. 1246 – c. 1263)
- Basil III of Bulgaria, Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (c. 1254–1263)
- Basil Fool for Christ (born 1468 or 1469, died 1552 or 1557), a Russian saint
- Basil of Ostrog (1610–1671), bishop and saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Basil the Physician (died 1118), Bogomil leader burned at the stake as a heretic
- Basil of Seleucia (died probably between 458 and 460), a metropolitan bishop of Seleucia ad Calycadnum
- Basil the Confessor (died 750), Eastern Orthodox saint
- Basil Hopko (1904–1976), bishop of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church and martyr
- Basil Hume (1923–1999), English Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster
- Basil Moreau (1799–1873), French Roman Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of Holy Cross and was beatified
- variant Baselios
- Baselios I bar Baldoyo, Maphrian of the East (828–830) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios II, Maphrian of the East (848–868) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios III, Maphrian of the East (936–960) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios IV of Tagrit, Maphrian of the East (1046–1069) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios Behnam Hadliyo (died 1454), Maphrian of the East (1404–1412), later Ignatius Behnam Hadliyo, Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1445 until his death in 1454
- Baselios Philoxenus, Maphrian of the East (1471–1487) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios Abraham, Maphrian of the East (1496–1508) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios Solomon (died 1518), Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 1509 until his death in 1518
- Baselios Blias, Maphrian of the East (1518–1523) (See List of maphrians)
- Baselios, Maphrian of Mosul, a great number of maphrians all called Baselios (See List of maphrians#Maphrians of Mosul (1533–1860)
- Baselios Lazarus III (died 1713), Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 1709 until his death in 1713.
- Baselios Sakralla III of Aleppo (died 1764), Maphriyano (Catholicos) of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the East from 1748–1760. He came to India in 1751 and was buried there
- Baselios Cleemis (born 1959), Cardinal, Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
- Baselios Paulose I (1836–1913), Catholicos of the East, the First Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from 1912 to 1913
- Baselios Paulose II (1914–1996), Catholicos of India of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church from 1975 to 1996
- Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II (1946–2021), Catholicos of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from 2010
- Baselios Thomas I (born 1929), Catholicos of India, Maphrian, head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church in India
- Baselios Yeldo (1593–1685), a Saint, Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1678 until his resignation in 1684
- Cyril Baselios (1935–2007), Maphrian, the first Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
- variant Basilides
- Basilides (2nd century AD), Egyptian Gnostic religious teacher
Given name
- Basil Alkazzi (born 1938), Kuwaiti-born British painter
- Basil Arthur (1928–1985), New Zealand politician
- Basil Kiiza Bataringaya (1927–1972) Ugandan politician
- Basil Bennett (1894–1938), American athlete and Olympic bronze medal winner in hammer throw
- Basil Bernstein (1924–2000), British sociologist and linguist
- Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough (1888–1973), politician and third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
- Basil W. Brown (1927–1997), American politician
- Basil Bunting (1900–1985), British modernist poet
- H. Basil Christian (1871–1950), South African/Rhodesian farmer and horticulturalist
- Basil Dearden (1911–1971), British film director
- Basil W. Duke (1838–1916), Confederate American Civil War general and historian
- Basil Embry (1902–1977), British Royal Air Force officer
- Basil Favis, Canadian chemist and professor
- Basil Gogos (1929–2017), American illustrator
- Basil Gunasekara (born 1929), 7th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
- Basil Buzz Hargrove, known as Buzz Hargrove (born 1944), Canadian former labour union leader
- B. H. Liddell Hart (1895–1970), English soldier, military historian and leading inter-war theorist
- Basil Hetzel (1922–2017), Australian medical researcher
- Basil Hiley (born 1935), British quantum physicist
- Basil Hood (1864–1917), British librettist and lyricist
- Basil Joseph (born 1990), Indian actor/director
- Basil Al Kubaisi (1934–1973), assassinated Iraqi nationalist activist and academic
- Basil Mott (1859–1938), British civil engineer
- Basil O'Connor (1892–1972), American lawyer and chairman and president of the American Red Cross
- Basil Charles Godfrey Place (1921–1994), British Royal Navy rear-admiral and recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Basil Radford (1897–1952), British actor
- Basil Rathbone (1892–1967), British actor
- Basil Spence (1907–1976), Scottish architect
- Basil Thampi (1983) Indian Cricketer
- Basil Valdez (born 1951), Filipino singer
- Basil Wolverton (1909–1978), American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer-artist
- Basil Zaharoff (1849–1936), Greek arms trader and financier, and chairman of the Vickers munitions company during World War I
- Variant Bassel
Surname
- Steve Basil (1893–1962), American baseball umpire
- Toni Basil (born 1943), American musician, video artist, actress, and choreographer
- Richard Basil (born 1967), American former college football coach
- variant Bacile
- variant Baseley
- variant Basile
- variant Basilio
- variant Basilius
- Basilius is a Greek nobility title and names bearing this title are excluded here
- István Basilius (1549–1581), Hungarian Unitarian minister
- variant Basilone
- John Basilone (1916–1945), American soldier and U.S. Marine, recipient of the Medal of Honor
- variant Bassil
- Gebran Bassil (born 1970), Lebanese politician
- Philip S. Bassil (born 1976) Lebanese-Canadian Investment Banker and financier
- Ray Bassil (born 1988), Lebanese athlete
- variant Bazeley
- variant Bazell
- variant Bazil
- variant Bazley
- variant Pasi
- variant Vasil (excluding Vasil)
- variant Vasilchenkosee Vasilchenko
variant Vasile
- variant Vasili
- Laert Vasili (born 1974), Greek Albanian actor and director
- Petrit Vasili (21st Century), Albanian politician
- Eni Vasili is an Albanian journalist, writer, former news reporter and host of the TV talk show Open, which airs two times a week in the national television Top Channel.
- variant Vasilj
- variant Vasko (excluding Vaskó and Vaško)
- variant Vasović
- variant Vassili
- variant Wasilewski
Fictional characters
- Basil, protagonist of Wilkie Collins' 1852 novel Basil
- Basil, protagonist of the Basil of Baker Street novels and the movie The Great Mouse Detective
- Basil, a character in the television series Fraggle Rock
- Basil Fawlty, the main character in Fawlty Towers
- Basil Brush, a glove puppet fox popular on children's television in the UK
- Basil, main character of the Canadian children's show Sesame Park
- Basil, a character in the anime and manga series Reborn!
- Basil, a character in the Playhouse Disney TV series Johnny and the Sprites
- Basil Wombat, a character on SeeMore's Playhouse
- Basil, a character in the breeding and farming game Harvest Moon
- Basil, a main character in the role-playing horror game Omori
- Basil Hallward, the artist that paints the haunting portrait of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Basil the Bat Lord, an enemy racer in the video game Lego Racers
- Basil Stag Hare, member of the Fur and Foot Fighting Patrol in Brian Jacques' Redwall
- Sir Basil Hawkins, a character in a popular manga One Piece
- Basil Humphrey, Head of Scotland Yard from the film Dracula's Daughter
- Basil Exposition, a character in the film
- Basil, Alex Delarge's snake from the film A Clockwork Orange
- Basil Brightberry, the gentlemouse sommelier in the Brambly Hedge series
- Basil Ransom, a Mississippi lawyer in Henry James's 1886 novel The Bostonians
- Basil, a pirate in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch, a character in the novel Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
- Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, a character in the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
- Basil, a character from the children's series Babar
- Basil Steele, a character from the Welsh children's series Fireman Sam
Notes and References
- Book: Wehr. Hans. Cowan. J. Milton. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. 1979. 73.
