Meaning: (Spear Fortified Town, 'From
Garriston; Son of Garret, Son of Gary'. The first name is derived from the
surname, itself possibly from a place name from Garriston in North Yorkshire,
or else originally bestowed for a son of someone named Garret or Gary. It was popularized
in the USA by the fame of
the US
anti-slavery campaigner William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), This ancient surname is of German and French
pre 7th century origins. It derives from either of the popular personal names
Gerard or Gerald. "Gerard" comprises the elements "gari"
meaning a spear, and "hard" - brave, whilst "Gerald" has
the same prefix of "gari", but the suffix is from "wald",
meaning to rule. This type of compound name with its echoes of tough living and
yet compliance with authority, is very typical of the period in history known
as "The dark ages" Later after the 11th century there was a revival
in Christian belief, and "names" often became biblical, through
association with the crusades. The popularity of Gerard and Gerald was such as
to ensure their survival into, and beyond the introduction of surnnames in the
12th century. Nobody is quite sure how many surnames emanate from Gerald and
Gerard, but it is known to exceed two hundred, and for examples to be found in almost
every European country. These spellings range from Garratt, Gerhard, Garred,
and Jarrelt, to Gheraldi, Giraudot, Gilardengo and Gerrelts. Early examples
include in
England, Henry
Jerard in the
county of
Essex in 1284, and in
Germany,
Burkhart Gerhart, given as being a burgher of the town of
Heilbronn, in the year 1293. The first
recorded spelling of the family name anywhere in the world is believed to be
that of John Gerard, which was dated 1230, in the Pipe Rolls of the
county of
Somerset,
England.
This was during the reign of King Henry 111rd, 1216 - 1272. Throughout the
centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop"
often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
)
Origin: (Old English, Germanic,
French)
Pronunciation: (GAR-i-sən, GEHR
-Rih-SahN)
Gender: Male, Possibly Uni-Sex
I saw Garrison as the name of a
character on a Disney TV series when I was channel surfing and landed on Disney
for a minute. The other character said his name and I was like that’s a cool
name and one I haven’t added to my blog before. Though this is another name I
tend to see as a last name rather than a first name just as I did with Donovan *see on list of posts*. Garrison has a strong
meaning and an interesting long history of use which makes this a name fitted
for many different genres and eras. Garrison is a far handsomer name than what
it comes from Gary, Garrett, Gerard and Gerald. As
someone pointed out and I agree this name would go well as a sibling name with
other names such as Donovan *see on
list of posts* and Flannigan *see on list of posts in June 2016*. I
think Garrison sounds like it would fit a tough handsome take no prisoners like
character. But then I can see a nerdy character being names this, so I’m
conflicted as to where I could really see this but no matter where it’s put I
would like to see it a tad bit more.
