Basil Family History

English (Hertfordshire): from the Middle English personal name Basil itself from Old French Basil(e) Latin Basilius ultimately from Greek Basileios ‘royal’. The name was borne by a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia regarded as one of the four Fathers of the Eastern Church; he wrote important theological works and established a rule for religious orders of monks.

Various other Christian saints are also known under these and cognate names. The popularity of Vasily as a Russian personal name is largely due to the fact that this was the ecclesiastical name of Saint Vladimir (956–1015), Prince of Kiev who was chiefly responsible for the introduction of Christianity to Russia.

In North America, the English form of the surname has absorbed Italian cognate Basile 1 and some Greek and Slavic derivatives of the classical Greek personal name Basileios (see Vasil). Americanized form of French Basile 2, a cognate of 1 above.