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Gideon (name)

Gideon (Hebrew: גדעון) is a gender neutral given name and surname of Hebrew origin which translates to 'feller' or 'hewer' (i.e. 'great warrior') in Hebrew. It can also be interpreted as "One who has a stump in place of a hand" or "One who cuts down". The name originates with the Biblical judge and leader Gideon, who impressed Calvinist groups like English Puritans and French Huguenots with his martial skill and utility. They then adopted it as a Christian name. The given name was first used in the 16th century when it became common to use 'Old Testament'-derived names. The Huguenots used the surrogate variation Gédéon. The name soon lost popularity in the 20th century as it declined to a low of four recorded newborn births in Great Britain during the 1930s with this name. Alternate spellings of this name include Gideone, Guideon, and Gidieon.

The first name started gaining use in the United States in the 1880s and was one of the rarer given names of the late 19th and 20th century. In recent years it has fluctuated in popularity with 1,016 newborns given this name in 2019. The name Gideon is the 308th most common name among U.S. social security statistics as of 2018.

People with the given name

People with the surname

  • Alexis Gideon (born 1980), American visual artist, director, composer, and performer
  • Blake Gideon (born 1989), American football coach and former player
  • Brett Gideon (born 1963), American baseball player
  • Clarence Earl Gideon (1910–1972), prisoner who brought Gideon v. Wainwright to the Supreme Court
  • Elmo Gideon (1924–2010), American artist known for the Gideon Holocaust Collection
  • Jim Gideon (born 1953), American baseball player
  • Jo Gideon (born 1952), British politician
  • Llewella Gideon (born 1967), British actress, comedian, and writer
  • Louan Gideon (1955–2014), American actress
  • Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 1991), Indonesian badminton player
  • Mary Gideon (born 1989), Nigerian badminton player
  • Melville Gideon (1884–1933), American ragtime composer, lyricist, and performer
  • Miriam Gideon (1906–1996), American composer
  • Ron Gideon (born 1964), American baseball coach
  • Sampson Gideon (1699–1762), British banker and philanthropist
  • Samuel E. Gideon (1875–1945), American architect and architectural historian
  • Sara Gideon (born 1971), American politician
  • Sherrod Gideon (born 1977), American football player
  • Wes Gideon (born 1937), Canadian football player
  • Wilhelm Gideon (1898–1977), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant

References