Basil (name)
The name Basil comes from the male Greek name Vassilios, which first appeared during the Hellenistic period. It is derived from "basileus", a Greek word of pre-Hellenic origin, meaning "king", from which words such as basilica and basilisk as well as the eponymous herb basil derive, and the name of the Italian region Basilicata, which had been long under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor.
Derived names in different languages include Barsegh in Armenian; Basile in French; Basilius in German; Basilio in Italian and Spanish; Basílio in Portuguese; Basileo in Galician; Vasyl in Ukraine; Vasile in Romanian; Vasil in Bulgarian; Vasilije in Serbian; Vasiliy in Russian; Bazil, Bazsó, Vászoly and Vazul in Hungarian.
Notable people with the name include:
Rulers
- Basil Onomagoulos, Byzantine usurper in Sicily in 717
- Basil I the Macedonian, Byzantine Emperor from 867
- Basil II Bulgaroktonus, Byzantine Emperor from 976
- Basil Lekapenos, chief administrator of the Byzantine Empire from 945
- Basil of Trebizond, ruled from 1332
- Fasilides, Ethiopian Emperor from 1603
- Basil of Naples, the first Duke of Naples from 661 to 666
Generals
- Basil Apokapes, Byzantine general of the mid-11th century
- Basil Boioannes, Catepan of Italy in 1017–1027
- Basil Mesardonites, Catepan of Italy in 1010–1017
- Basil Theodorokanos, Catepan of Italy in 1043
Religious figures
- Basil of Caesarea, also known as Saint Basil the Great, 4th-century bishop of Caesarea
- Basil the Elder, father of Basil the Great and saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Basil of Ancyra , a 4th-century Christian priest and hieromartyr
- Basil of Ancyra
- Basil of Amasea, a fourth-century Christian bishop and martyr
- Basil of Cilicia, late 5th century historian of Christianity
- Basil I of Bulgaria, the first Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church after restoring the Tarnovo Patriarchate
- Basil II of Bulgaria, Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
- Basil III of Bulgaria, Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
- Basil Fool for Christ, Russian Orthodox saint
- Basil of Ostrog, Serbian Orthodox bishop and saint
- Basil the Physician, Bogomil leader burned at the stake as a heretic
- Basil of Seleucia, metropolitan bishop of Seleucia ad Calycadnum
- Basil the Confessor, Eastern Orthodox saint
- Basil Hopko, bishop of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church and martyr
- Basil Hume, English Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster
- Basil Moreau, French Roman Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of Holy Cross and was beatified
Variant ''Baselios''
- Baselios I bar Baldoyo, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios II, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios III, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios IV of Tagrit, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios Behnam Hadliyo, Maphrian of the East, later Ignatius Behnam Hadliyo, Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1445 until his death in 1454
- Baselios Philoxenus, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios Abraham, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios Solomon, Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 1509 until his death in 1518
- Baselios Blias, Maphrian of the East
- Baselios, Maphrian of Mosul, a great number of maphrians all called Baselios
- Baselios Lazarus III, Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 1709 until his death in 1713
- Baselios Sakralla III of Aleppo, Maphriyano of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the East from 1748 to 1760. He came to India in 1751 and was buried there
- Baselios Cleemis, Cardinal, Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
- Baselios Paulose I, Catholicos of the East, the First Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from 1912 to 1913
- Baselios Paulose II, Catholicos of India of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church from 1975 to 1996
- Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from 2010
- Baselios Thomas I, Catholicos of India, Maphrian, head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church in India
- Baselios Yeldo, a saint, Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1678 until his resignation in 1684
- Cyril Baselios, Maphrian, the first Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Variant ''Basilides''
- Basilides, Egyptian Gnostic religious teacher
Given name
- Basil Alkazzi, Kuwaiti-born British painter
- Basil Arthur, New Zealand politician
- Basil Kiiza Bataringaya, Ugandan politician
- Basil Bennett, American athlete and Olympic bronze medal winner in hammer throw
- Basil Bernstein, British sociologist and linguist
- Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, politician and third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
- Basil W. Brown, American politician
- Basil Bunting, British modernist poet
- H. Basil Christian, South African/Rhodesian farmer and horticulturalist
- Basil Dearden, British film director
- Basil W. Duke, Confederate American Civil War general and historian
- Basil Embry, British Royal Air Force officer
- Basil Favis, Canadian chemist and professor
- Basil Gogos, American illustrator
- Basil Gomez, Anglo-American geomorphologist
- Basil Gunasekara, 7th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
- Basil Buzz Hargrove, known as Buzz Hargrove, Canadian labour union leader
- B. H. Liddell Hart, English soldier, military historian and leading inter-war theorist
- Basil Hetzel, Australian medical researcher
- Basil Hiley, British quantum physicist
- Basil Hood, British librettist and lyricist
- Basil Joseph, Indian actor/director
- Basil Al Kubaisi, assassinated Iraqi nationalist activist and academic
- Basil McIntosh, Bahamian politician
- Basil Mott, British civil engineer
- Basil O'Connor, American lawyer and chairman and president of the American Red Cross
- Basil O'Meara, Canadian sports journalist
- Basil Charles Godfrey Place, British Royal Navy rear-admiral and recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Basil Radford, British actor
- Basil Rathbone, British actor
- Basil Spence, Scottish architect
- Basil Thampi, Indian cricketer
- Basil Valdez, Filipino singer
- Basil Wolverton, American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer-artist
- Basil Zaharoff, Greek arms trader and financier, and chairman of the Vickers munitions company during World War I
Surname
- Richard Basil, American former college football coach
- Sam Basil, Papua New Guinean politician
- Sam Basil Jr., Papua New Guinean politician
- Steve Basil, American baseball umpire
- Toni Basil, stage name of American musician, video artist, actress, and choreographer Antonia Basilotta
- Wassily de Basil, Russian ballet impresario
Variant ''Bacile''
- Giovanni Bacile, Italian Roman Catholic priest
Variant ''Baseley''
- Godfrey Baseley, American radio executive
- William Baseley, English politician, member of the Parliament of England in 1554 and 1555
Variant ''Basile''
- ''see Basile#Surname''
Variant ''Basilio''
- ''see Basilio#Surname''
Variant ''Basilius''
- István Basilius, Hungarian Unitarian minister
- See Basilius for the Greek nobility title
Variant ''Basilone''
- John Basilone, American soldier and U.S. Marine, recipient of the Medal of Honor
Variant ''Bassil''
- ''see Bassil''
Variant ''Bazeley''
- ''see Bazeley''
Variant ''Bazell''
- Josh Bazell, American author and physician
- Robert Bazell, American academic
Variant ''Bazil''
- Louis Bazil, French merchant and militia officer
- Ezekiel Bazil, Dominican politician
Variant ''Bazley''
- ''see Bazley''
Variant ''Pasi''
- Riccardo Pasi, Italian footballer
- Geeta Pasi, American diplomat
Variant ''Vasil''
- Adria Vasil, Canadian journalist
Variant ''Vasile''
- ''see Vasile#As a surname''
Variant ''Vasili''
- Laert Vasili, Greek Albanian actor and director
- Petrit Vasili, Albanian politician
- Eni Vasili, Albanian journalist, writer, former news reporter, and TV talk show host
Variant ''Vasilj''
- Ivan Anton Vasilj, Croatian football player
- Mario Vasilj, Swedish professional footballer
- Vladimir Vasilj, Croatian professional footballer
Variant ''Vasko''
- Vasko
Variant ''Vasović''
- ''see Vasović''
Variant ''Vassili''
- Amaury Vassili, French singer
- Vassilis Vassili, Greek sculptor
Variant ''Wasilewski''
- ''see Wasilewski''
Fictional characters
- Basil, protagonist of Wilkie Collins' 1852 novel Basil
- Basil, protagonist of the Basil of Baker Street novels and the movie The Great Mouse Detective
- Basil, a character in the television series Fraggle Rock
- Basil Fawlty, the main character in Fawlty Towers
- Basil Brush, a glove puppet fox popular on children's television in the UK
- Basil, main character of the Canadian children's show Sesame Park
- Basil, a character in the anime and manga series Reborn!
- Basil, a character in the Playhouse Disney TV series Johnny and the Sprites
- Basil Wombat, a character on SeeMore's Playhouse
- Basil, a character in the breeding and farming game Harvest Moon
- Basil, a main character in the role-playing horror game Omori
- Basil Hallward, the artist that paints the haunting portrait of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Basil the Bat Lord, an enemy racer in the video game Lego Racers
- Basil Stag Hare, member of the Fur and Foot Fighting Patrol in Brian Jacques' Redwall
- Sir Basil Hawkins, a character in a popular manga One Piece
- Basil Humphrey, Head of Scotland Yard from the film Dracula's Daughter
- Basil Exposition, a character in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
- Basil, Alex Delarge's snake from the film A Clockwork Orange
- Basil Brightberry, the gentlemouse sommelier in the Brambly Hedge series
- Basil Ransom, a Mississippi lawyer in Henry James's 1886 novel The Bostonians
- Basil, a pirate in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch, a character in the novel Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
- Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, a character in the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
- Basil, a character from the children's series Babar
- Basil Steele, a character from the Welsh children's series Fireman Sam
Category:English given names
Category:English-language masculine given names
Category:English masculine given names
Category:Masculine given names
Category:Given names derived from plants or flowers
Category:Given names of Greek language origin