Baptist

Meaning

Baptist ultimately comes from Greek roots meaning “to dip” or “to immerse,” and so refers to a baptizer. In Christian usage it became especially associated with St. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, and then passed into several European languages as a personal name or title.

Origin

Fun fact

19th-century name books note forms like Baptista, Baptiste, and Battista across European languages, and even record “Baptize” as a rare female-name form in one parish register.