Gareth is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

masculine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

. The name's popularity in Wales may be as a

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...

of ''

Geraint Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton hag ...

'', which itself became popular after the famous hero and king of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

. The modern name appears in '' Le Morte d'Arthur'' by

Thomas Malory Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of ''Le Morte d'Ar ...

, in which it belonged to

Sir Gareth Sir Gareth (; Old French: ''Guerehet'', ''Guerrehet'') is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother ...

, a brother of Sir

Gawain Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...

and one of the Knights of the Round Table. Malory either based the name on ''Gahariet'' (a name found in French

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

texts) or on the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

word ''gwaredd'', meaning "gentleness".

People

Gareth Abraham Gareth John Abraham (born 13 February 1969) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He made over 100 appearances in English Football League, The Football League wi ...

(born 1969), Welsh former footballer * Gareth Bale (born 1989), Welsh footballer *

Gareth Barry Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion, the highest number of ap ...

(born 1981), English footballer *

Gareth Branwyn Kevin MaloofBranwyn, Gareth"We Did It! Thanks to All My Backers" ''Sparks of Fire Press'', Arlington, VA, USA, August 20, 2013. Retrieved on 10 June 2015. (born January 21, 1958), better known by his pseudonym, Gareth Branwyn, is a writer, editor, ...

(born 1958), American writer and editor *

Gareth Brooks Gareth Brooks (born 28 February 1979 in Christchurch) is a field hockey player from New Zealand, who earned his first cap for the national team, nicknamed ''The Black Sticks'', in 2002. The midfielder was a member of the team that finished sixth a ...

(born 1979), New Zealand field hockey player * Gareth Chilcott (born 1956), English retired rugby union player *

Gareth Cooper Gareth Cooper (born 7 May 1979 in Bridgend) is a former Wales international rugby union player who played in the scrum-half position. Career Cooper started playing rugby with Pencoed before moving to Bath in the West Country. Cooper made his i ...

(born 1979), Welsh retired rugby union player * Gareth David (stage name Gareth Campesinos), lead singer of the English-Welsh indie pop band

Los Campesinos! Los Campesinos! are a seven-piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Though the band formed in Wales, none of the members are Welsh people, Welsh. The band has gone through several lineup changes dur ...

Gareth David-Lloyd Gareth David Lloyd (born 28 March 1981), known professionally as Gareth David-Lloyd, is a Welsh actor and writer best known for his role as Ianto Jones in the British science fiction series ''Torchwood.'' Early life He was born in Bettws, Newp ...

(born 1981), Welsh actor *

Gareth Davies (disambiguation) Gareth Davies may refer to: Musicians *Gareth Glynne Davies, Welsh composer *Gareth Davies, bassist in Funeral for a Friend Politicians *Gareth Davies (English politician) (born 1984), British Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford *Gareth Dav ...

Gareth Dean Gareth Dean (born 31 March 1981) is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. He played for the South Wales Scorpions in the Championship One and AS Carcassonne in the Elite One Championship. His position is ...

(born 1981), Welsh rugby league player *

Gareth Edwards (disambiguation) Gareth Edwards (born 1947) was a Welsh rugby union player. Gareth Edwards may also refer to: * Gareth Edwards (Berkshire cricketer) (born 1973), English cricketer *Gareth Edwards (director) (born 1975), British film director *Gareth Edwards (produc ...

Gareth Ellis Gareth Ellis (born 3 May 1981) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the Super League and the NRL, and England and Great Britain at international level. He played at club level for the Wakefield Tr ...

(born 1981), English rugby league player *

Gareth Emery Gareth Thomas Rhys Emery (born 18 July 1980) is a British trance producer and DJ. He is best known for his three studio albums: '' Northern Lights'', ''Drive'' and '' 100 Reasons to Live'', and winning the prestigious A State of Trance Tune o ...

(born 1980), British trance-genre producer and DJ *

Gareth Evans (disambiguation) Gareth Evans may refer to: Sportspeople * Gareth Evans (footballer, born 1967), English former professional footballer * Gareth Evans (footballer, born 1981), English former professional footballer * Gareth Evans (footballer, born 1987), Welsh prof ...

Gareth Frodsham Gareth Frodsham (born ) is an English professional rugby league footballer, formerly of Pilkington Recs, St. Helens, Batley Bulldogs and North Wales Crusaders. He has also played for the Rhode Island Rebellion in the USA Rugby League Th ...

(born 1989), English rugby league player *

Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...

(born 1984), English singer-songwriter *

Gareth Griffiths (disambiguation) Gareth Griffiths may refer to: *Gareth Griffiths (footballer) (born 1970), English former footballer *Gareth Griffiths (rugby union) (1931–2016), Welsh rugby union player *Gareth Griffiths (academic) (born 1943), Australian professor *Gareth Griff ...

Gareth Hale Gareth Irvin Hale is an English comedian and actor, who is best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace, with his friend and comic partner Norman Pace. Biography Hale and his comedy partners were both former teachers, their come ...

(born 1953), English comedian and actor *

Gareth Higgins Gareth Higgins is a writer from Belfast, Northern Ireland now living in Asheville, North Carolina. He is the founding director of the Wild Goose Festival. He is a graduate in sociology from Queen's University of Belfast ( BA, PhD). He was a co-f ...

, writer from Northern Ireland * Gareth Hopkins (born 1976), New Zealand cricketer * Gareth Hopkins (footballer) (born 1980), English footballer *

Gareth Hughes Gareth Hughes (23 August 1894 – 1 October 1965) was a Welsh stage and silent screen actor. Usually cast as a callow, sensitive hero in Hollywood silent films, Hughes got his start on stage during childhood and continued to play youthful lead ...

(1894-1965), Welsh actor *

Gareth Hughes (politician) Gareth Thomas Llewelyn Hughes (born 31 October 1981) is a New Zealand activist and a former politician of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Green Party. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for eleven years, from 2010 to 2020. He ...

(born 1981), New Zealand politician *

Gareth Hunt Alan Leonard Hunt (7 February 1942 – 14 March 2007), known as Gareth Hunt, was a British actor best remembered for playing footman Frederick Norton in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and Mike Gambit in '' The New Avengers''. Early life Alan Leon ...

, stage name of English actor Alan Leonard Hunt (1942-2007) * Gareth Johnson (born 1969), British politician *

Gareth Johnson (hurler) Gareth Johnson (born in Ballygalget, County Down) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Ballygalget and football for Loughinisland and has been a member of the Down senior inter-county hurling and football teams. Joh ...

, Irish hurler *

Gareth Jones (disambiguation) Gareth Jones may refer to: Academics *Gareth Jones (lawyer) (1930–2016), British law professor, "founding father" of the English law of restitution * W. Gareth Jones (born 1936), Welsh academic and translator *Gareth Stedman Jones (born 1942), Br ...

Gareth Koch Gareth Koch (born 6 April 1962) is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist of German/ Anglo-Irish/ Lithuanian heritage. Biography Gareth Koch was born in Milan to novelist Christopher Koch and Irene Vilnonis, a Conservatorium-t ...

(born 1962), Australian classical guitarist * Gareth Krause (born 1981), South African rugby union player *

Gareth Llewellyn Gareth Owen Llewellyn (born 27 February 1969), is a Welsh former rugby union player who gained a record 92 caps for Wales as a lock. His record for Wales caps was surpassed by Gareth Thomas in May 2007. His brother, Glyn Llewellyn, also played i ...

(born 1969), Welsh rugby union player *

Gareth Malone Gareth Edmund Malone (born 9 November 1975) is an English choirmaster and broadcaster, self-described as an " animateur, presenter and populariser of choral singing". He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as '' The ...

(born 1975), British choirmaster and broadcaster *

Gareth Maule Gareth Maule (born in Pontypool, Wales on 4 December 1987) is a Welsh rugby union player currently playing at Centre. He attended New College School Cardiff and St Albans RC High School. He is 191 cm tall and weighs 95 kg. Maule has ...

(born 1987), Welsh rugby union player *

Gareth McAuley Gareth Gerald McAuley ( ; born 5 December 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He represented Northern Ireland at senior international level, being capped on 80 occasions and scoring nine times ...

(born 1979), Northern Irish footballer *

Gareth McGrillen Pendulum is an Australian electronic rock band founded in 2002. Pendulum originally formed in the city of Perth, Western Australia, by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul "El Hornet" Harding. The band was later expanded to include members Ben ...

(born 1981), Australian bass guitar player, record producer and DJ *

Gareth McLean Gareth McLean (born c.1975) is a Scottish journalist and screenwriter who has written for ''The Guardian'' newspaper and on soap operas for the '' Radio Times'' magazine. McLean graduated with an MA (Hons) in English from the University of Aberd ...

(born c. 1975), Scottish journalist * Gareth Mitchell (born 1970), Welsh journalist and lecturer * Gareth Morgan (disambiguation) *

Gareth Naven Gareth Naven (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian football coach and former player. He is currently the development officer at Football West and coach of Bayswater City SC in the NPL. Playing career Naven was born in 1969 in the English town ...

(born 1969), Australian soccer manager and former player * Gareth Owen (disambiguation) *

Gareth Peirce Gareth Peirce (born Jean Margaret Webb; March 1940) is a British solicitor and human rights activist. She has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving allegations of human rights injustices. Her work with Gerry Conlon and the Guildf ...

(born 1940), female English solicitor and human rights activist *

Gareth Philips Gareth Philips is a television producer. Career Radio and television presenter Philips began his career working on Radio Clatterbridge between 1995 and 1997. He moved on to work at other radio stations including MFM 97.1, before becoming a t ...

, British television producer *

Gareth Pierce Gareth Pierce (born 19 February 1981) is a Welsh actor and musician who has appeared in various television series. In 2020, he began portraying Gavin Moss in BBC Radio 4's ''The Archers'' and became the second actor to play Todd Grimshaw in ...

, Welsh actor * Gareth Price (born 1980), Welsh rugby league player * Gareth Price (rugby league) (1917-1992), Welsh rugby league player and coach *

Gareth Rees (disambiguation) Gareth Rees may refer to: *Gareth Rees (cricketer) (born 1985), Welsh cricketer *Gareth Rees (motorsport commentator) (born 1969), Welsh motorsport commentator *Gareth Rees (rugby union) Gareth Lloyd Rees (born 30 June 1967) is a Canadian former ...

* Gareth Reynolds (born 1979), American-British comedian, producer, writer, and podcaster * Gareth Roberts (disambiguation) * Gareth Russell (author), British author *

Gareth Russell (musician) Gareth Russell is a Scottish musician, best known as the former bass guitarist for the indie rock band Idlewild (band), Idlewild. Russell joined the band in 2006, following the departure of Gavin Fox (musician), Gavin Fox, and recorded two studi ...

, bass guitarist for Idlewild *

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup ...

(born 1970), English football manager and former player *

Gareth Snell Gareth Craig Snell (born 1 January 1986) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he was Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borou ...

(born 1986), English Member of Parliament *

Gareth Steenson Gareth Steenson (born 5 April 1984) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played as a Rugby union positions#Fly-half, fly-half. Playing career Early years Steenson, who is from Ulster, did not get opportunities with his home province with U ...

(born 1984), rugby union player from Northern Ireland * Gareth Thomas (disambiguation) * Gareth Unwin (born 1972), British film producer *

Gareth Ward Gareth James Ward, an Australian politician who served as the New South Wales Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services in the second Berejiklian ministry from 2019 to 2021. Ward is a member of the New South Wales Legislative A ...

, Australian politician * Gareth Williams (disambiguation) * Gareth Wood (born 1995), British acrobatic gymnast

Fictional characters

* Gareth Blackstock, title character of the British television sitcom ''

Chef! ''Chef!'' is a British situation comedy starring Lenny Henry that aired as twenty episodes over three series from 1993 to 1996 on the BBC. The show was created and primarily written by Peter Tilbury based on an idea from Lenny Henry and produced ...

'' *

Gareth Keenan Gareth Keenan (born 17 April 1971) is a fictional paper salesman on BBC's comedy ''The Office'', portrayed by Mackenzie Crook. Gareth is a self-important team leader proud of his alleged Lieutenant status in the Territorial Army. He spends his d ...

, a regular character from ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

'' *

Gareth Mallory M is a codename held by a number of fictional characters in Ian Fleming's James Bond (literary character), James Bond book and James Bond filmography, film series; the characters are the current or past Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ...

, current M,

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

's boss * Gareth Lewis (''Doctors''), from the British soap opera ''Doctors'' * Gareth Regan, from the British soap opera ''Doctors'' * Gareth (''The Walking Dead''), from the American television show ''The Walking Dead'' * Gareth, from ''

Galavant ''Galavant'' is an American Musical film, musical fantasy comedy television series, created and written by Dan Fogelman, with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. Fogelman, Menken and Slater also serve as executive producers alongs ...

References

{{given name, cat=Welsh masculine given names Welsh masculine given names

People

Fictional characters

See also

References