Xaver
Xaver [ ˈksaːvɐ ] is a male given name that has appeared since the 16th century .
Origin and meaning of the name
The first name Xaver split off over time as an independent first name from the family name of Franz Xaver, who was revered as a saint . He got his family name from Javier Castle in the Spanish province of Navarra .
The name of this castle and the associated municipality is of Basque origin (from Basque etxe 'house' and berri 'new'; i.e. ' new house '). In the 16th century this name was still spelled Xavier , but pronounced [ ʃa'βjɛr ], later [ χa'βjɛr ]. This older spelling of the name with the initial X- was adopted into German, but without also adopting the Spanish pronunciation; the X of the strange name has been pronounced as a native German X .
Since St. Francis Xavier, like Ignatius von Loyola, is a typical saint of the Counter Reformation , the first name was only used by Catholics for a long time.
name day
- December 3 - St. Francis Xavier ( Francisco de Xavier )
Well-known namesake
Xaver
- Xaver Bayer (* 1977), Austrian writer
- Xaver Bernauer (1768–1831), German organ builder
- Xaver Fischer (* 1972), German keyboardist and jazz musician
- Xaver Fuhr (1898–1973), German painter
- Xaver Gmelch (1899–1976), German motorcycle racer
- Xaver Hohenleiter (1788–1819), leader of a band of robbers in the area of the border triangle between Austria, Switzerland and Germany
- Xaver Hutter (* 1976), Austrian actor
- Xaver Imfeld (1853–1909), Swiss engineer-topographer
- Xaver Kurmann (* 1948), Swiss racing cyclist
- Xaver Marnitz (1855-1919), German-Baltic provost and Protestant martyr (day of remembrance in the Protestant name calendar : January 30 )
- Xaver Scharwenka (1850–1924), Polish-German composer and pianist
- Xaver Schwarzenberger (* 1946), Austrian cameraman and director
- Xaver Steifensand (1809–1876), German copper and steel engraver, draftsman and illustrator
- Xaver Terofal (1862–1940), German actor and theater director
- Xaver Unsinn (1929–2012), German ice hockey player and coach
- Xaver Zembrod (* 1966), German soccer player and coach
Xaver is also the name of the eponymous hero in the Bavarian comedy film Xaver and his extraterrestrial friend .
Franz Xaver
→ see Franz Xaver (first name)
variants
- Javier (span.)
- Ksaveras (Lithuanian)
- Xabier (Basque)
- Xavier (English, French, Catalan)
- Xaverius (lat.)
- Saverio (ital.)
- Savy (Irish)
- Ksawery (Polish)
distribution
- In Germany: Commonly used in Bavaria, otherwise rare
