Basil (name)

Basil

Pronunciation	BAZ-el, Baa-sil
Origin
Word/name	Greek, Arabic
Meaning	"royal, kingly, brave, valiant"

The name Basil (/ˈbæzəl/; royal, kingly; has origins from the male Greek name Vassilios (Template:Lang-el) which first appeared during the Hellenistic period. It is derived from "basileus" (Template:Lang-el) 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 (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 US and is also the name of a common herb. In Arabic, the name means "brave". Different derived names in different languages include: Basile in French; Basilius in German; Basilio in Italian, Galician and Spanish, Basileo in Galician, Vasile in Romanian and Vasil in Bulgarian.

Basil has many variant forms: Basel, Basile, Basilic, Basilides, Basileios, Basileo, Basilie, Basilio, Basilius, Bazeel, Bazeelius, Bazil, Bazyli, Breasal, Pasi, Vasil, Vasyl, Vasile, Vaseleos, Vasileos, Vasilije, Vasilios, Vasilios, Vasilius, Vasilus, Vassilis, Vasili, Vassili, Vasiliy, Vassilij, Vassily and Wassily.

Basil may refer to the following people:

Rulers

• Basil Onomagoulos (died 717), Byzantine usurper in Sicily in 717
• Basil I (811-886) the Macedonian, Byzantine Emperor from 867
• Basil II Bulgaroktonus (958-1025), Byzantine Emperor from 976
• Basil Lekapenos (died c. 985), chief administrator of the Byzantine Empire from 945
• Basil of Trebizond (died 1340), ruled from 1332
• Fasilides (1603-1667), Ethiopian Emperor from 1603

Generals

• Basil Apokapes, Byzantine general of the mid-11th century
• Basil Boioannes, Catepan of Italy in 1017-1027
• Basil Mesardonites, Catepan of Italy in 1010-1017
• Basil Theodorokanos, Catepan of Italy in 1043

Religious figures

• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), also known as 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 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

First name

• Basil Arthur (1928-1985), New Zealand politician
• Basil al-Assad (1962-1994), son and heir-apparent of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad
• Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough (1888-1973), politician and third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
• Basil Dearden (1911-1971), British film director
• Basil W. Duke (1838-1916), Confederate American Civil War general and historian
• Air Chief Marshal Basil Embry (1902-1977), British Royal Air Force officer
• Basil 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 (born 1922), Australian medical researcher
• Basil Hiley (born 1935), British quantum physicist
• Basil Hood (1864-1917), British librettist and lyricist
• 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 Wolverton (1909–1978), American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer-artist
• Basil Zaharoff (1849-1936), Turkish-born arms trader and financier, and chairman of the Vickers munitions company during World War I

Surname

• Toni Basil (born 1943), musician, video artist, actress, and choreographer

Fictional characters

• Basil, protagonist of Wilkie Collins' 1852 Basil (novel)
• Basil 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 (Sesame Park), main character of the Canadian children's show Sesame Park
• Basil, a character in the anime and manga series Reborn!
• Basil, a character on 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 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 Lego Racers (video game)
• Basil Stag Hare, member of the Fur and Foot Fighting Patrol in Brian Jacque's Redwall (novel)
• Basil Hawkins, a character in a popular manga One Piece
• Basil Exposition, a character in the film "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"

External links

• Basil - Origin of Baby Names
• Basil (English) - House of Names
• Basil (French) - House of Names