Tuesday, April 28, 2015

X is for Xavier


You had to know that with a strong Roman Catholic tradition in my family we would have one or two males with the name Xavier. I will admit that it is not used as a given or first name but it is often used in conjunction with Francis (as in Francis Xavier) a very popular given name in our family tree. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit priest (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta he took the name of the place where he was born Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre) who served as a missionary to East Asia. He was canonized in 1622 and his surname of Xavier was adopted as a given or middle name in many families. St. Francis Xavier is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries.

Xavier is from the Basque place name Etxaberri meaning "the new house." Variations on Xavier are Xabier (Basque) Xaver (German) Saverio (Italian), Ksawery (Polish) and Javier (Spanish). The name day for Xavier in France and Spain is December 3. This information comes from Behind the Name, click on the link to learn more about Xavier.

See you back her tomorrow for the letter Y!
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