Meaning & Origin
A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Guy is a boy's and girl's baby name of Germanic origin, derived from the Old French Gui, itself from the Germanic widu (wood, forest) or witu (wide), generally meaning 'wood' or 'wide.' It arrived in England with the Normans after 1066.
Guy Fawkes — the 1605 Gunpowder Plot conspirator whose effigy is burned in England every November 5th — is simultaneously the name's most notorious and most culturally embedded bearer. In the 20th century, guy became an informal word for any man, which both popularized and slightly diminished it as a given name. It has a brusque, no-nonsense confidence that wears well.