Word.ws English Dictionary

Gordon

/ˈɡɔːdn̩/US/ˈɡɔrdn̩/

Gordon proper noun: a Scottish habitational surname from the Celtic languages for someone from Gordon, Berwickshire.

Proper noun

Gordon

  1. A Scottish habitational surname from the Celtic languages for someone from Gordon, Berwickshire.
  2. An English habitational surname from Anglo-Norman for someone from Gourdon, France.
  3. A habitational surname from Irish, an anglicization of de Górdún (“of Gordon (Berwickshire)”).
  4. A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic], an adopted anglicization of Mag Mhuirneacháin (“son of Muirneachán”) (traditionally Magournahan).
  5. A Jewish habitational surname probably for someone from Grodno, Belarus.
    • Mount, vassals, couch your lances, and cry, "Gordon!
    • Gordon for Scotland and Elizabeth!"1822 Walter Scott, Poetical Works: Halidon Hill (Baudry's European Library, 1838), page 420
  6. A male given name transferred from the surname.
    • Often he wrote good ones on casual slips and fancied them his; names like Trevellyan or Montressor or Delancey, with musical prefixes; or a good, short, beautiful, but dignified name like "Gordon Dane". He liked that one. It suggested something.1913, Harry Leon Wilson, Bunker Bean, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2008, →ISBN, page 13
  7. A village in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NT6443).
  8. A suburb of Canberra; named for poet Adam Lindsay Gordon.
  9. A suburb of Sydney in Ku-ring-gai council area, New South Wales.
  10. A locality in Huon Valley council area and the Kingborough council area, southern Tasmania, Australia.
  11. A river in Tasmania, Australia.
  12. A town in Victoria; named for early settler George Gordon.
Show 13 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A river in Western Australia, Australia; named for British statesman George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen.
  2. A town in Houston County, Alabama.
  3. A city in Wilkinson County, Georgia; named for railroad official William Washington Gordon.
  4. An unincorporated community in Crawford County, Illinois.
  5. An unincorporated community in Butler County, Kansas.
  6. An unincorporated community in Letcher County, Kentucky.
  7. A township in Todd County, Minnesota.
  8. A city in Sheridan County, Nebraska; named for early settler John Gordon.
  9. A village in Darke County, Ohio; named for an early settler.
  10. A borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; named for judge David F. Gordon.
  11. A minor city in Palo Pinto County, Texas.
  12. A town in Ashland County, Wisconsin; named for fur trader Antoine Guerdon.
  13. A town and census-designated place therein, in Douglas County, Wisconsin.

Noun

Gordon (plural Gordons)

  1. A Gordon setter.

Forms of Gordon

Proper noun
alternative formGurden
alternative formGorden
Noun
pluralGordons

Origin of Gordon

The main etymology, associated with Celtic names, is from the Scots surname Gordon, from a place name, but the origin is debated: * If the English or Scots name is from a Brythonic language (such as Old Welsh or Old Breton), then possibly from a Proto-Brythonic compound such as *gor (“spacious”) + *din (“fort”); * If the Scots name is itself from English, then possibly from French Gourdon, derived from Gallo-Roman Latin Gordus, from Gaulish *Gordos; * Otherwise, possibly ultimately from Old English *gor-dūn (“mud hill”) whence a habitational name.

Words formed from Gordon

Phrases with Gordon

Words that rhyme with Gordon

Questions about Gordon

What does Gordon mean?
Gordon means a Scottish habitational surname from the Celtic languages for someone from Gordon, Berwickshire.
What part of speech is Gordon?
Gordon can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Gordon?
Gordon is pronounced /ˈɡɔrdn̩/ (US).

Words near Gordon in the dictionary

  1. Gordium
  2. Gordius
  3. Gordo
  4. gordolobo
  5. gordolobos
  6. Gordon
  7. Gordon Bennett
  8. Gordon County
  9. Gordon Hill
  10. Gordon setter
  11. Gordon setters

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gordon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Gordon.wav.

Cite this entry: “Gordon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gordon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.