Jerome (English)
Where does "Jerome" come from?
The name Jerome traces its roots back to the Ancient Greek name Hierṓnumos, a compound meaning "holy name" derived from the words for "holy" and "name." This Greek original eventually passed into Old French, where it took on the vernacular form that evolved into the English name we use today. It remains a linguistic doublet of its more formal ancestor, Hieronymus.
Full etymology tree
- Jerome (English), 'A male given name from Ancient Greek.'
- inherited Jérome (Old French)
- inherited Hieronymus (Latin), 'a male given name from Ancient Greek'
- borrowed Ἱερώνυμος (Hierṓnumos) (Ancient Greek), 'a male given name, equivalent to English Hieronymus'
- compound ἱερός (hierós) (Ancient Greek), 'connected with the gods, divine'
- inherited *iherós (Proto-Hellenic), 'holy, divine'
- inherited *ish₂ros (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *iherós (Proto-Hellenic), 'holy, divine'
- compound ὄνυμα (ónuma) (Ancient Greek), 'Doric and Aeolic form of ὄνομᾰ (ónomă)'
- suffix -ος (-os) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verbal roots to form an o-grade action noun.'
- inherited *-os (Proto-Hellenic)
- inherited *-os (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs.'
- inherited *-os (Proto-Hellenic)
- compound ἱερός (hierós) (Ancient Greek), 'connected with the gods, divine'
- borrowed Ἱερώνυμος (Hierṓnumos) (Ancient Greek), 'a male given name, equivalent to English Hieronymus'
- inherited Hieronymus (Latin), 'a male given name from Ancient Greek'
- inherited Jérome (Old French)
Direct ancestors
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris