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 [ 2 syll. ba-sil, bas-il ] The boy name Basil is pronounced as BAEZahL KEY. 1: Basil is used mostly in English 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' (king) 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 34 variant forms that are used in both English and other languages. Brasil, Bresal, Vas (used in Russian too), and Vasily (used in Russian too) are English variant forms of Basil. Other English forms include the short form Bas, the pet form Baz, and the spelling variant Bazil (used in Czech and too). Variant forms of Basil used in other languages include the French Bale, the French Basile, the Basque, Italian, and Spanish Basilio, the German and Scandinavian Basilius, the Ukrainian Basilla, the German and Scandinavian Basle, the Polish Bazek, the Hungarian Bazel, the Polish Bazyli, the Irish Breasal, the Finnish Pasi, the Czech and Slavic Vasil, the Romanian Vasile, the Russian Vasilek, the Greek Vasileos, the Russian Vasili, the Slavic Vasilije, the Greek Vasilios, the Greek Vasilis, the Russian Vasiliy, the Greek Vassilios, the Russian Vassily, the Russian Vasya, the Russian and Ukrainian Vasyl, the Hungarian Vazul, the Russian Wassili, and the Russian Wassily. 2: Basil's origin and use are both in the Arabic language. The meaning here is valiant, brave. See also the related form, the English, French, and German Rex. 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 2008, out of the group of boy names directly linked to Basil, the English, French, and German Rex was the most commonly used. Baby names that sound like Basil include the French Basile, the German and Scandinavian Basle, the Hungarian Bazel, the Czech and English Bazil, the Polish Boguslaw, the English Buckley, the Ukrainian Basilla, the Polish Bazyli, the Polish Boguchwal, and the Basque, Italian, and Spanish Basilio. Details of famous persons named Basil: KEY: English pronunciation for Basil: B as in "be (B.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; Z as in "zee (Z.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)"   |
