Gordon () is a masculine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. The name is derived from the

Scottish surname Scottish surnames are surnames currently found in Scotland, or surnames that have a historical connection with the country. History The earliest surnames found in Scotland occur during the reign of David I of Scotland, David I, King of Scots (11 ...

'' Gordon''. It is uncertain if this surname originated from a place name in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

or in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The Gordon in

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

, where the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

who bore the surname held lands in the 12th century, is of uncertain

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

. It is also possible that this place name was named after settlers from France, who were named after a like-named place in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. The surname is thought to have been taken up as a given name in honour of the Major-General

Charles George Gordon Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Charles George Gordon Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Gordon of Khartoum and General Gordon , was a British ...

, a British army officer who was killed in 1885, in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Origin of the name

The

''Gordon'' originates from a transferred use of the Scottish surname ''Gordon''. The origin of this surname is debated. While it is considered to be derived from a place name, it is not certain that the place name of Gordon, in Berwickshire, Scotland, is the origin of the surname. Berwickshire was once the home of

Clan Gordon Clan Gordon is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire ...

, and the earliest member of the family on record is of Richer de Gordun, who was lord of the barony of Gordon, in the mid-12th century. This place name may be derived from the Brythonic ''gor'', meaning "spacious"; and ''din'' or ''dun'', meaning "fort" (Irish: dún, Scottish: dùn, Welsh: dun, din). which cited for the surnames "Gordon". However, it is also possible that the Scottish surname originated from a place name in Normandy, France, and was brought over to Scotland, where it gave rise to the place name in Berwickshire. For example, the English surname ''Gordon'' is considered to be derived from Gourdon in

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

. Early records of this surname occur in England in the early 13th century (such as Adam de Gurdon, in 1204). This French place name is derived from the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Gordus'' and the

locative In grammar, the locative case ( ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which indicates a location. In languages using it, the locative case may perform a function which in English would be expressed with such prepositions as "in", "on", "at", and " ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

''-o'', ''-onis''. The given name is thought to have been used in honour of Major-General

(1833–85), who was killed at

Variants, cognates

The masculine given name can be represented in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

as ''Gòrdan''. The diminutives Gord, Gordie or Jordie may also be used as a nickname.

List of people

* Saint Gordon of Rome or Saint Gordianus (d. 362), Roman saint martyred under Julian the Apostate *

Gordon (slave) Peter () (also known as Gordon, or "Whipped Peter", or "Poor Peter") was an escaped slave, escaped American slave who was the subject of photographs documenting the extensive keloid scarring of his back from whippings received in slavery. The "sc ...

(fl. 1863), African-American slave and US Civil War soldier * Gordon Abbott (1914–1986), Australian rules footballer *

Gordon Allport Gordon William Allport (November 11, 1897 – October 9, 1967) was an American psychologist. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of the personality, and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personali ...

(1897–1967), American psychologist * Gordon Anderson (disambiguation), several people * Gord Ash (b. 1951), assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Brewers *

Gordon Bajnai György Gordon Bajnai (; born 5 March 1968) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and economist, who served as the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, he functioned as Government of Hungary, Minister of Local Government and Regiona ...

(b. 1968), Hungarian politician, ex-Prime Minister of Hungary * Gordon Banks (1937–2019), English football player *

Gordon Bell Chester Gordon Bell (August 19, 1934 – May 17, 2024) was an American electrical engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), from 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later served as ...

(b. 1934), American computer engineer *

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

(b. 1951), Scottish politician, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom * Gordon Burgess (1918–2000), New Zealand cricket player and administrator * Gordon Burns (b. 1942), Northern Irish television presenter * Gordon Campbell (disambiguation), multiple people *

Vere Gordon Childe Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 189219 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of Prehistoric Europe, European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the Universi ...

(1892–1957), Australian archaeologist * Gordon Church (1960–1988), American gay murder victim *

Gordon Luke Clarke Gordon Luke Clarke, also known as Luke, was a New Zealand fashion designer based in London during the 1970s. Clarke was born in Auckland on 9 August 1945 to a Scottish father and Māori mother. At the age of 18, he went to work for the British c ...

(b. 1945), New Zealand-born 1970s fashion designer * Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (1903–1962), American baseball player *

Gordon Cooper Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004) was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, United States Air Force Aviator, pilot, and the youngest of the Mercury Seven, seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the f ...

(1927–2004), American astronaut * Gordon Cummins 1914–1942), British serial killer *

Gordon R. Dickson Gordon Rupert Dickson (November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001) was an American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1923 ...

(1923–2001), American science fiction author * Gordon Downie (1964–2017), Canadian singer/songwriter, lead singer of the Canadian band The Tragically Hip * Gordon Frickers (b. 1949), English marine, aviation and landscape artist *

Gordon Gano Gordon James Gano (born June 7, 1963) is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American folk punk band Violent Femmes. Early life Gano was born in New York City to actor parents Norman and Faye Gano, and grew up in ...

(b. 1963), American singer/songwriter/guitarist, lead singer of Wisconsin proto-alternative group The Violent Femmes *

Gordon Getty Gordon Peter Getty (born December 20, 1933) is an American businessman and classical music composer, the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork Light, Ann Rork, was his father's fourth wife. When his father died in 1976, G ...

(b. 1933), American, son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty * Gordon Giltrap (b. 1948), English guitarist * Gordon Gore (1913–1987), American football player *

Gordon Gould Richard Gordon Gould (July 17, 1920 – September 16, 2005) was an American physicist who is sometimes credited with the invention of the laser and the optical amplifier. (Credit for the invention of the laser is disputed, since Charles Towne ...

(1920–2005), American physicist *

Gordon Hayward Gordon Daniel Hayward (born March 23, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, and Oklahoma City Thunder. ...

(b. 1990), American basketball player * Gordon Hayward (cricketer) (1926–2014), English cricketer *

Gordon Heuckeroth Cornelis Willem "Gordon" Heuckeroth (; born 6 July 1968), known mononymously as Gordon, is a Dutch singer and television personality. Internationally, he is best known for his membership of the supergroup De Toppers, the Toppers, which represent ...

(b. 1968), Dutch singer and radio and television presenter, under the name Gordon * Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), American, 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints * Gordon Hookey (b. 1961), Australian aboriginal artist * Gordon Howe (1928–2016), Canadian hockey player * Gord Johns (b. 1969), politician from British Columbia, Canada * Gordie Johnson (b. 1964), Canadian musician * Gordon Korman (b. 1963), Canadian-American children's book author * Gord Kluzak (b. 1964), retired Canadian NHL defenceman for the Boston Bruins *

G. Gordon Liddy George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer and FBI agent who was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration. Work ...

(1930–2021), American, jointly organized break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate scandal *

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

(1938–2023), Canadian singer-songwriter * Gordon Lish (b. 1934), American writer *

Gordon Lonsdale Konon Trofimovich Molody (; 17 January 1922 – 9 September 1970) was a Soviet Union, Soviet intelligence officer, known in the West as Gordon Arnold Lonsdale. Posing as a Canadian businessman during the Cold War, he was a Resident spy, non-offi ...

(1922–1970), Russian spy * Gordon Lunan (1914–2005), Canadian spy for the Soviet Union *

Gord Mackintosh Gordon Henry Alexander Mackintosh (born July 7, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who represented the riding of St. Johns in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1993 to 2016. He served as a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party ...

(b. 1955), politician in Manitoba, Canada * Gord Martineau (b. 1947), Canadian television journalist * Gordon Matta-Clark (1943–1978), American artist * Gordon W. McKay (1910–1990), American businessman and politician * Gordon McRae (b. 1948), Canadian professional hockey player, retired * Gordon MacRae (1921–1986), American actor and singer * Gord Miller (sportscaster) (b. 1965), Canadian sportscaster for the cable network TSN * Gord Miller (politician) (1924– 2021), former politician in Ontario, Canada * Gord Miller (environmental commissioner) (b. 1953), the current Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Canada *

Gordon Moakes Gordon Peter Moakes (born 22 June 1976) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of rock band Young Legionnaire and former member of indie rock band Bloc Party. Bloc Party Moakes became a member of Bloc Party after responding to an ...

, English musician, member of Bloc Party *

Gordon Moore Gordon Earle Moore (January 3, 1929 – March 24, 2023) was an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and emeritus chairman of Intel Corporation. He proposed Moore's law which makes the observation that the number of transistors i ...

(1929–2023), American businessman * Gordon Murray (b. 1946), South African designer of Formula One race cars * Gordon S. Murray (1950–2011), American investment banker and writer * Gordon Orlikow (b. 1960), Canadian

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

, and hurdles competitor, Athletics Canada Chairman,

Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; ), also known as Team Canada, is a private nonprofit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee. It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization. History Cana ...

member, Korn/Ferry International partner * Gordon Owen (b. 1959), English footballer *

Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, and filmmaker, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particularly ...

(1912–2006), American photographer and film director * Gordon Pask (1928–1996), English cybernetician and psychologist * Gord Perks (b. 1963), Canadian environmentalist, political activist, and writer *

Gordon Pinsent Gordon Edward Pinsent (July 12, 1930 – February 25, 2023) was a Canadian actor, writer, director, and singer. He was known for his roles in numerous productions, including ''Away from Her'', ''The Rowdyman'', ''John and the Missus'', ''A Gift ...

(1930–2023), Canadian actor *

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

(b. 1966), British celebrity chef * Gordon Raphael, American record producer and musician *

Gordon Rohlehr Gordon Rohlehr (20 February 1942 – 29 January 2023) was a Guyana-born scholar and critic of West Indian literature, noted for his study of popular culture in the Caribbean, including oral poetry, calypso and cricket. He pioneered the academic ...

(1942–2023), Guyana-born scholar of West Indian literature * Gordon Rosenmeier (1907–1989), American politician and lawyer * Gordon Sanderson (1950–1977), Canadian murder victim * Gordon Schildenfeld (b. 1985), Croatian footballer * Gordon Scott (1926–2007), American actor primarily known for playing Tarzan in theatrical films of mid- to late-1950s * Gordon Shattock (1928–2010), British veterinarian, Conservative politician and survivor of the Brighton hotel bombing * Gord Sinclair, bass guitarist for the popular Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip * Gordon Slethaug, American professor of English * Gordon Smiley (1946–1982), American race car driver * Gordon Smith (disambiguation), multiple people * Gord Spence (1897–1984), Canadian ice hockey player who played one season in the National Hockey League *

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

(b. 1957), Scottish football player and manager * Gordon Sumner (b. 1951), English performing artist known as Sting * Gordon Tarpley (b. 1976), American musician * Gordon Thomson (disambiguation), multiple people * Gordon Tietjens (b. 1955), New Zealand rugby sevens coach * Gordon Towers (1919–1999), Canadian politician * Gordon Walker (disambiguation), multiple people * Gordon Waller (1945–2009), Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist, one half of the duo Peter and Gordon * R. Gordon Wasson (1898–1986), American psychedelic writer * Gordon Watkins (1907—1974), American football player * Gordon Williams (disambiguation), multiple people *

Gordon S. Wood Gordon Stewart Wood (born November 27, 1933) is an American historian and professor at Brown University. He is a recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for '' The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1992). His book ''The Creation ...

(b. 1933), American historian

Other name

* Paul Gordon Georges (1923–2002), American painter

Fictional characters

* Gordon the Big Engine, from ''

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Sodor (fictional island), Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by Wi ...

'' and '' Thomas and Friends'' * Gordon Bombay, from '' The Mighty Ducks'' *Gordon Brittas, from the BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire * Gordon Collins (Brookside), fictional character from British soap opera ''Brookside'' * Gordon the Gopher, puppet character from various British children's TV programmes * Gordon Freeman, the main protagonist of ''

Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...

'' *

Gordon Gekko Gordon Gekko is a composite character in the 1987 film '' Wall Street'' and its 2010 sequel '' Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'', both directed by Oliver Stone. Gekko was portrayed in both films by actor Michael Douglas, who won the Academy A ...

, protagonist of ''

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

'' * Gordon Quid, character from ''

Catscratch ''Catscratch'' is an American animated television series created by Doug TenNapel for Nickelodeon. It aired from July 9, 2005, to February 10, 2007. It is a loose adaptation of TenNapel's comic book series, ''Gear'', which in the series is also ...

'' * Gordon Robinson (Sesame Street), from the children's educational television program ''Sesame Street'' * Gordon Shumway, the extraterrestrial lead in the U.S. sitcom '' ALF'' * Gordon Tracy, fictional character from '' Thunderbirds'' * Gordon Walker, hunter in the television series ''Supernatural'' * Gordon, Character in the 1990 Addams Family movie * Gordon, a bear from

Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey who goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout–like summer camp in the Pim ...

* Gordon Harmann, character from the Total Conquest Universe * Gordon, the English name of the main character " Godínez" from the animated television series ''

El Chavo Animado ''El Chavo Animado'' (''El Chavo: The Animated Series'' in English) is a Mexican animated series based on the live action television series '' El Chavo del Ocho'', created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, produced by Televisa and Ánima Estudios. ...

''.

References