Gareth

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine first name of Welsh origin, often associated with people born in Wales or the British Isles
2. A traditional Welsh boy's forename that is also used as a given name across the English-speaking world
3. A male personal name of Welsh and Cornish origin, popular in Britain during the twentieth century

Etymology: Gareth is a name, and its most striking fact is that it has two unrelated pedigrees. The Welsh form is usually traced to Geraint, which may descend from Latin "Gerontius," itself from the Ancient Greek "gérōn," meaning "old man." Another possibility links it to the Welsh "gwaredd" or "gwareddawg," meaning "gentleness," connected with the adjective "gwâr," or "gentle." Scholars have not settled between these, so the name may mean "old man" or "gentle" depending on which root is right. The name's second life is far more recent and comes from London. In Cockney rhyming slang, "Gareth" stands in for "Hunt," after the actor Gareth Hunt, so the name is sometimes used as a stand-in for a word that has nothing to do with its Welsh origins.