Gideon

Hebrew
"hewer; or, having a stump for a hand"

Gideon Origin and Meaning

The name Gideon is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "hewer; or, having a stump for a hand".

Gideon is a no-longer neglected Old Testament name, but still makes an excellent choice for parents looking to move beyond such overused biblicals as Benjamin and Jacob. In the Old Testament, Gideon was a judge called on by God to rescue the Jews from the Midianites, and the name was popular among the Puritans.

Gideon was given a spike by the short-lived TV series Gideon's Crossing, and has been heard more recently as a main character in Criminal Minds, as Molly Weasley's brother Gideon Prewett in the Harry Potter series, and as an anti-hero, Gideon Gordon Graves, in the Scott Pilgrim series.

The ubiquitous, in-every-hotel-room Gideon bibles were named because Gideon symbolizes great work done by few people.

Among the celebs who have chosen Gideon for their sons are Neil Patrick Harris and Ziggy Marley.

# 318 in the US

Gideon Rank in US Top 1000

# 190 on Nameberry

Gideon Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Gideon Popularity

Famous People Named Gideon

  • Gideon
    Biblical judge
  • Gideon Emery
    British actor
  • Gideon Yago
    American MTV news anchor and writer
  • Gideon Lee Yu
    American businessman and football team owner
  • Gideon Hausner
    Israeli jurist and politician
  • Gideon Ariel
    Israeli biomechanic and athlete
  • Gideon Levy
    Israeli journalist and author
  • Gideon Baah
    Ghanaian footballer
  • Gideon Gardner
    U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
  • Gideon Barstow
    U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
  • Gideon Welles
    24th U.S. Secretary of the Navy
  • Gideon Lee
    U.S. Congressman from New York; 60th Mayor of New York City
  • Gideon Coe
    British radio personality
  • Gideon Algernon Mantell
    English paleontologist who discovered Iguanadon
  • Gideon Babe Ruth Howard
    son of actors Debra Winger and Arliss Howard
  • Gideon Scott Burtka
    Harris (b. 2010), son of actors Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka; twin of sister Harper Grace
  • Clarence Gideon
    criminal defendant whose appeal led to Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright
  • Gideon Martyn Forsyth (b. 2018)
    son of Joy,Anna (Duggar) and Austin Forsyth from "Counting On"
  • Gideon Aroni
    actor
  • Gideon Adlon
    actress and daughter of Pamela Adlon

Gideon in Pop Culture

  • Gideon Prewett
    character in the Harry Potter series; brother to Molly Weasley
  • Gideon Pontipee
    character in musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"
  • Gideon Lightwood
    character in Cassandra Clare's "The Infernal Devices" trilogy
  • Gideon Reader
    character in the Shapeshifter series
  • Gideon
    character in "Will Grayson, Will Grayson' by John Green and David Levithan
  • Gideon Gleeful
    character on Disney's animated series "Gravity Falls"
  • Gideon Cahill
    ancestor of the Cahill family in the 39 Clues series
  • Gideon Seymour
    character in The Time Travelers/Gideon the Cutpurse
  • Gideon
    mutant in X,Men comics
  • Gideon
    character on TV's "Charmed"
  • Gideon
    duck in British animated series "Gideon"
  • Gideon Oliver Dobbs
    main character in 1998 film "Gideon"
  • Gideon Cross aka The Demon Hunter
    comics character
  • Gideon
    captain of the guard for King Limhi in the Book of Mormon
  • Gideon Cross
    main character in Sylvia Day's Crossfire series
  • Gideon
    female AI on TV's "The Flash" and "Legends of Tomorrow"
  • Gideon Grey
    character in Disney's "Zootopia"
  • Gideon de Villiers
    character in the German Ruby Red novel trilogy by Kerstin Gier
  • Gideon Reeves
    character on TV's "APB"
  • Jason Gideon
    character on TV's 'Criminal Minds'
  • Ben Gideon
    main character on TV's "Gideon's Crossing"
  • Abel Gideon
    character on TV's "Hannibal"
  • George Gideon of Scotland Yard
    character in novels by John Creasey
  • Gideon (bibles)
    mentioned in the Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon"
  • Gideon Altaire
    character in James Gurney's series "Dinotopia"
  • Gideon Graves
    main villain of the Scott Pilgrim comics/movie
  • Gideon Gemstone
    character on TV’s “The Righteous Gemstones”