Savage

English, Irish, or Jewish surname

"wild, untamed; grandfather"

Savage Origin and Meaning

The name Savage is a boy's name meaning "wild, untamed; grandfather".

It doesn't matter if Savage is a surname on your family tree — it's a highly controversial choice for a first name with connections to racism and colonialism. Despite this, over a dozen sets of parents named their sons Savage in a recent year.

As a last name, Savage has English origins as a medieval nickname-turned-surname for a wild person, ultimately from the Latin salvaticus, meaning "man of the woods". The Ashkenazi Jewish and Irish variations evolved from the Aramaic name Sabbas, meaning "grandfather" or "old man".