August 7, 2008

Gideon

Gideon ~ Warrior, Feller of Trees ~ Hebrew


Gideon has been around for, well, a very long time. In the Bible, Gideon was a humble, average man chosen by God to be a warrior. He is known for requesting a sign from God on several occasions. As the name suggests, he had great success in battle.

The name Gideon became popular in colonial America during the early formation of the country, and it was used in the mid 1800s as well. You may have heard of the Gideons International, a group famous for distributing complimentary copies of the Bible in hotel rooms.

Popularity
This name had completely fallen out of use in America until the year 2000. For 2014, it's ranked at 349. Not too shabby for a name that hasn't been in the top 1,000 for a century! It's gaining popularity because it's Biblical, ends with an "n" (think Aiden) and fits in with other pioneer names but is still unique. I personally like it because it has a strong meaning and hits all my "cute" buttons.
  • Nicknames: If it seems too odd to shorten this name to what sounds like "giddy," try Gid on for size. Kind of cute, but it sounds almost exactly like "kid". In the end, it might be best to go with the full name on this one.
  • Celebrity: Ziggy Marley—yes, Bob Marley's son—had a son with his wife in January of 2007. They named their 5th child Gideon.

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