Gordon is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Scottish surname Gordon. It is uncertain if this surname originated from a place name in Scotland or in France. The Gordon in Berwickshire, where the family who bore the surname held lands in the 12th century, is of uncertain etymology. It is also possible that this place name was named after settlers from France, who were named after a like-named place in Normandy. The surname is thought to have been taken up as a given name in honour of the Major-General Charles George Gordon, a British army officer who was killed in 1885, in Khartoum.
The given name Gordon originates from a transferred use of the Scottish surname Gordon. The origin of this surname is debated. While it is considered to be derived from a place name, it is not certain that the place name of Gordon, in Berwickshire, Scotland is the origin of the surname. Berwickshire was once the home of Clan Gordon, and the earliest member of the family on record is of Richer de Gordun, who was lord of the barony of Gordon, in the mid 12th century. This place name may be derived from the Welsh gor, meaning "spacious"; and din, meaning "fort".
However, it is also possible that the Scottish surname originated from a place name in Normandy, France, and was brought over to Scotland, where it gave rise to the place name in Berwickshire. For example, the English surname Gordon is considered to be derived from Gourdon in Saône-et-Loire, France. Early records of this surname occur in England in the early 13th century (such as Adam de Gurdon, in 1204). This French place name is derived from the Gallo-Roman personal name Gordus and the locative suffix -o, -onis.
The given name is thought to have been used in honour of Major-General Charles George Gordon (1833–85), who was killed at Khartoum.
The masculine given name can be represented in Scottish Gaelic as Gòrdan.
Gordon (slave), African-American slave & US Civil War soldier
Gordon Abbott, Australian rules footballer
Gordon Allport, American psychologist
Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian politician, ex-Prime Minister of Hungary
Gordon Banks (born 1937), English football player
Gordon Bau (1907-1975), make-up supervisor for Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Gordon Bell, American computer engineer
Gordon Brown, Scottish politician, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Gordon Burgess (born 1935), president of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, USA
Gordon Campbell (disambiguation)
Gordon Childe (the full name is Vere Gordon Childe), Australian archaeologist
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (1903–1962), American baseball player
Gordon Cooper (1927–2004), American astronaut
Gordon R. Dickson, American science fiction author
Gordon Downie Canadian singer/songwriter, lead singer of the Canadian band The Tragically Hip
Gordon Frickers, English marine, aviation and landscape artist
Gordon Gano, American singer/songwriter/guitarist, lead singer of Wisconsin proto-alternative group The Violent Femmes
Gordon Getty (b. 1933), American, son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty
Gordon Gore (1913–1987), American football player
Gordon Gould, American physicist
Gordon Hayward (b. 1990), American basketball player
Gordon Heuckeroth (b. 1968), Dutch singer and radio- and television presenter, under the name Gordon
Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), American, 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Gordon Hookey (b. 1961), Australian aboriginal artist
Gordon Howe (born 1928), Canadian hockey player
G. Gordon Liddy (born 1930), American, jointly organized the first break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate scandal
Gordon Lightfoot (b. 1938), Canadian singer-songwriter
Gordon Lish, American writer
Gordon Matta-Clark, American artist
Gordon McRae, Canadian professional hockey player, retired
Gordon McRae (1921-1986), American actor and singer; born Albert Gordon
Gordon Moakes, English musician, member of Bloc Party
Gordon Moore, American businessman
Gordon Murray, South African designer of Formula One race cars
Gordon Owen, English footballer
Gordon Parks, American photographer and film director
Gordon Pask, English cybernetician and psychologist
Gordon Ramsay, Scottish celebrity chef
Gordon Schildenfeld, Croatian footballer
Gordon Scott, American actor primarily known for playing Tarzan in theatrical films of mid- to late-50's
Gordon Slethaug, American professor of English
Gordon Smiley (1946–1982), American race car driver
Gordon Smith (disambiguation)
Gordon Strachan, Scottish football player and manager
Gordon Sumner (born 1951), English performing artist, better known as Sting
Gordon Tietjens (born 1955), New Zealand rugby sevens coach
Gordon Remling (born 2004), American author and artist
Gordon Walker (disambiguation)
Gordon Waller (1945–2009), Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist, known as "Gordon" in the 1960s duo Peter and Gordon
R. Gordon Wasson, American psychedelic writer
Paul Gordon Georges (1923-2002), American painter
Gordon, soccer manager in the Bert Diaries
Gordon, character in Edith Templeton's novel Gordon
Gordon, minor character in Rent
Gordon, a character in School of Rock
Gordon, the first archer to appear in the series Fire Emblem
Gordon, character in recurring Kids in the Hall sketch "Fran and Gordon"
Gordon the Big Engine, from The Railway Series and Thomas and Friends
Gordon the Gopher, puppet character from various British children's TV programmes
Gordon, The Talking Leg, character in Rocko's Modern Life
Gordon, the pet devil of Ackman in Akira Toriyama's manga series Go Go Ackman and its video game adaptation
Gordon Bombay, the main protagonist of The Mighty Ducks
Gordon Cole, David Lynch's character in Twin Peaks
Gordon Deitrich, character in V for Vendetta (film)
Gordon Fleming, the main protagonist of Session 9
Gordon Freeman, the main protagonist of Half-Life
Gordon Gekko, Protagonist Wall Street
Gordon "Gordie" Lachance, the main character from Stephen King's The Body and Stand By Me
Gordon Quid, character from Catscratch
Gordon Robinson (Sesame Street), from the popular children's educational television program Sesame Street
Gordon Shumway, the extraterrestrial lead in the U.S. sitcom ALF
Gordon Szalinski, a character from Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Gordon Tracy, fictional character from Thunderbirds
Gordon Walker, hunter in the television series Supernatural
