Basil
BAY-zil; also BAH-zil
A name from Greek roots meaning “kingly” or “royal.”
Meaning
Basil comes from the Greek name Basileios/Basileus family, tied to the word for “king.” In the 19th-century name books, it is glossed as “kingly” and also connected with forms used across several European languages. The related historical spelling Basilius reflects the same royal sense.
Origin
GreekLatinEnglishFrenchItalianProvencalGermanSwissNorwegianmasculine
Fun fact
The name was especially popular in Christian tradition because of Saint Basil the Great, making it a long-lived clerical and saintly name as well as a royal one.