Xavier ZA-vee-ur, ZA-vyer, ig-ZA-vee-ur, za-VYAY (if you're French)
The name Xavier comes from Etxabier, a place in Basque meaning "the new house." It is a relatively common name for boys in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. The name Xavier gets super-mega brownie points for being the only common name that starts with an X. There are all sorts of variations of Xavier, the only other of which you can find on the charts is Xzavier (seriously, you've already got an X in there; sticking in a z is just plain silly).
In the US, as of 2003, Xavier was the 84th most common baby name, rising steadily since 1990 at 174th. Xzavier didn't even make the top 1000 until 2000; now it's at 707th. Other variants:
- Javier Spanish, Portuguese
- Ksawery Polish
- Saveria (f.) Italian
- Saverio Italian
- Xabier Basque
- Xaver German
- Xavia (f.)
- Xaviar English
- Xaviera (f.) English
- Xavior English
Since it's conception, a number of people have helped to spread the coolness of Xavier around the world:
- Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
- Definitely the largest Xavier in history, SFX is known as the Apostle to the Far East. He is the patron saint of the Orient, missionaries and Xavier University.
- Xavier Cugat (1900-1990)
- Xavier Cugat was the leader of Desi Arnez's band. He wasn't just a musician, he also made some jammin' movies.
- Xavier Roberts (1955-)
- This guy created Cabbage Patch Kids. 'Nuff said.
- Xavier Becerra (1958-)
- D, Cal. Congressional representative since 1993 who pushes Hispanic agendae. Also Vice Chairman of the U.S.-Korea Interparliamentary Exchange (woot).
- Charles Xavier (1963-)
- Professor X, founder of the X-Men. What if Charles had a lamer last name, like White? Who the hell would watch the W-Men?
- Joe Xavier (196?-)
- AAA baseball player, who almost made the majors. His superior name still managed to earn him a segment in Baseball America, though.
- Abel Xavier (1972-)
- Blond. Plays soccer. Once got fined and suspended for 9 months for manhandling a referee. Badass Factor: 10.
- Xavier Rudd (1979-)
- Aussie musician who plays guitar, djembe and didgeridoo. How cool? Ice cold!
Xavier is also a cool middle name, but not cool enough for further comment. If you know any other important Xaviers (or if your name is Xavier, even if you think you're unimportant), please /msg me.
Sources:
http://www.behindthename.com/
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
http://home.att.net/~karc/home5.html (Xavier Roberts)
http://www.aci.com.pl/navaira/xavier.site/ (Abel Xavier)
http://www.xavierrudd.com/ (guess)
http://www.everything2.com/