Six kings and a dragon-slayer came first — now George gets the story

Where George comes from

George reaches English through Latin from the Greek Georgios, built on geōrgos — “farmer”, or more literally “one who works the earth” (gē, earth, plus ergon, work). It is one of the few royal-sounding names whose meaning is about getting your hands dirty.

Its fame rests on Saint George, a soldier remembered as a martyr from the late Roman Empire. The dragon arrived centuries later in medieval legend, and by the fourteenth century George had become the patron saint of England, his red cross on white turning into the national flag. Crusaders, the Order of the Garter and countless pub signs carried him further.

Then came the crown. Six kings named George have reigned in Britain: four Hanoverian Georges in a row gave the country the word “Georgian” for its elegant terraces and sash windows, and George V and George VI saw it through the twentieth century. The birth of Prince George in 2013 gave the name another lift, and it has stayed a fixture near the top of the boys’ charts in England and Wales ever since — popular, but with enough history behind it that it never sounds like a fashion.

Outside Britain the same name travels well: Jorge in Spain and Portugal, Giorgio in Italy, Georg in Germany, Jerzy in Poland. Handy to know if the family stretches across borders, and a nice detail to slip into a dedication from a grandparent abroad.

Fictional Georges have kept the name lively too, from a certain inventive boy with a marvellous medicine to a curious little monkey and a toddler pig who adores his toy dinosaur. Many children meet the name first through these characters, so a George of their own age feels like company rather than history.

Georgie, Geordie and other ways to say George

• Georgie — The everyday pet form at home and in nursery; affectionate without being babyish, and it grows up surprisingly well.
• Geordie — An old Scottish and northern English diminutive — and, of course, the name for anyone from Tyneside. A fond choice for families with roots in the North East.
• Georgie Porgie — The nursery-rhyme version every George hears in the playground at least once. Best kept for gentle teasing at bath time.
• Geo — A short, modern clip that older brothers and school friends tend to land on.
• Dod or Doddie — Traditional Scots pet forms of George, now rarer, still heard from grandparents north of the border.
• Big G — A family nickname for the George who insists he is the bravest knight in the house.