A male name. (Latin Gregorius, French Gregoire, Italian Gregorio, German Gregor) Greek Γρηγόριος from γρηγορέω ‘to be watchful’. It was the name of two fathers of the Eastern Church, St Gregory Nazianzen (c. 325 - c.390) and St Gregory of Nyssa (c. 331 - c. 395), and of 16 Popes, beginning with St Gregory ‘the Great’ (c. 540-604). The nameis not found in England before the Norman Conquest, but was common in the 12th C and later. English Register of Godstow Nunnery, c. 1450 (E.E.T.S. 129-30) (1450) gives Gregour as the English for Gregorius. There are a great many surnames formed from it, e.g. Gregory, Greg, Gregg, Grig, Grigg, Greggs, Griggs, Gregson, Grigson, Greig. Greg and Grig were respectively North and South country forms of the diminutive. Greig is the Scottish form. McGregor is probably a patronymic formed from it.

Gregorius Curia Regis Rolls 1187-1220, Hundred Rolls 1273, Feudal Aids 1346, Close Rolls 1386. Gregory Hundred Rolls 1073, Close Rolls 1387. Greg, Grege Hundred Rolls 1273, Poll Tax of West Riding of Yorkshire 1379 1379. Grigge Hundred Rolls 1273.

This m. ‘Christian’ is, on two counts, as delightful as it is dignified: it is, in itself, euphonious without being luxurious, clangorous without harshness; and it has a brilliant ecclesiastical representation. As Charlotte Yonge—a lady whom it were as uncouth as it is difficult to withstand—has aptly said that ‘Γρηγόριος (Gregorios) came from γρηγόρέω) (grēgoreo), a late and corrupt form of the verb έγέίρω (egeiro) (to wake or watch). A watchman was a highly appropriate term for a shepherd of the Church, and accordingly Gregorios was frequent among early bishops’.

From the Latin name Gregorius, from Greek γρηγορεν, to watch. The name means ‘watchful.’ Conf. the name Ira.

Greek (masculine) - Vigilant.

A Greek name, meaning: Vigilant.