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[ 3 syll. lan-ce-lot, la-ncel-ot ] The boy name Lancelot is pronounced LAENSahLAAT †. Lancelot's language of origin is Old French and it is predominantly used in the English language. The name could be from the Old French l'ancel ('the servant'). Sir Lancelot was the most prominent of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table; he eventually betrayed his master by becoming Queen Guinevere's lover. He might have been created in French Arthurian literature by Chrétien de Troyes as he does not seem to appear in earlier mythology, or else like most other Arthurian names, the name could be of ultimately Celtic origin altered through French transmission of Arthurian literature. Elsewhere in literature, the name has appeared in Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice (1596-1598) as the name of Launcelot Gobbo, and in Tobias Smollett's novel The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1760) as the name of the titular character. The short form Launce has appeared in Shakespeare's comedy Two Gentlemen of Verona (1598). A variation of Lancelot is Launcelot (English). Lance (English short form) is another variant of Lancelot. Lancelot is an unusual baby name for boys. It is not listed in the top 1000 names. In 2008, among the group of boy names directly linked to Lancelot, Lance was the most widely used. A baby name that sounds like Lancelot is Launcelot (English).
† Pronunciation for Lancelot: L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; T as in "tea (T.IY)"   |
