English

Proper noun

Xavier

1. A male given name.
   • 1976 Don DeLillo, Ratner's Star, Knopf, ISBN 0394400836, page 337:

     "Full name please." "Maurice Xavier Wu." "Where did you get the Xavier?" "My father was a missionary," he said.

   • 2007 Sharon Kendrick, The Sheikh's English Bride, Harlequin, ISBN 0373126123, page 60:

     'I keep telling you to call me Xavier,' he interjected silkily, aware that her reluctance to do so intrigued him. 'Xavier,' Laura agreed, and then hesitated. How could his name be so...so...enticing? Because it was foreign to her lips―lingering there like the juice of a fruit she had never tasted before? Or because it was impossible to say without first softening your voice?

2. A surname​, found chiefly among people of Spanish and Portuguese descent.

Derived terms

• Xavierian
• Xavierite

Usage notes

• The given name was rare (among English speakers) until the 1980s, when it began to rise in popularity. The surname is still rare.

Translations

References

1. ↑ “Xavier” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.

Catalan

Etymology

From the toponymic surname of a Spanish saint, from Basque etxeberria ‎(“the new house”). See Xavier for more.

Pronunciation

• (Eastern) IPA^(key): /ʃəβiˈe/, /ʃəviˈe/
• (Western) IPA^(key): /ʃaβiˈe/, /ʃaviˈe/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ʃaβiˈeɾ/, /ʃaviˈeɾ/

Proper noun

Xavier m

1. A male given name cognate to English Xavier

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /gzavje/

Proper noun

Xavier

1. A male given name, cognate to English Xavier.

Usage notes

• The compound given name François-Xavier also occurs, in honor of the saint.

Portuguese

Etymology

From the toponymic surname of a Spanish saint, from Basque etxeberria ‎(“the new house”). See Xavier for more.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʃa.vi.ˈɛɾ/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʃɐ.ˈvjɛɾ/

Proper noun

Xavier m

1. A male given name.

Spanish

Proper noun

Xavier m

1. (obsolete outside the US) Alternative spelling of Javier