Silas (name) Silas (name) Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus. Silas as a name today comes from the early Christian disciple Silas. He is consistently called "Silas" in Acts, but the Latin Silvanus, which means "of the forest," is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter; it is likely that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas," or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus." It has been suggested that Silas is the Greek version of the Aramaic "Seila," a version of the Hebrew "Saul".
Gregory (given name) Gregory (given name) The masculine first name Gregory derives from the Latin name "Gregorius", which came from the late Greek name "Γρηγόριος" (Grēgorios) meaning "watchful, alert" (derived from Greek "γρηγoρεῖν" "grēgorein" meaning "to watch"). Through folk etymology, the name also became associated with Latin "grex" (stem "greg–") meaning "flock" or "herd". This association with a shepherd who diligently guides his flock contributed to the name's popularity among monks and popes. Sixteen popes and two antipopes have used the name "Gregorius", starting with Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great). It is tied with Benedict as the second-most popular name for pope,