General

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Général in CM Cameroon, DE Germany.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 10 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

General is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name12K records spelled General33 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Paraguay, Mexico, Argentina, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written GéNeRaL, Général, Gëñèrål, Géňèrăl, Gêñéràl

• a separate name1.9K records spelled General3 spellings in the group

  Also written Général, Generál

• German name732 records spelled General5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Germany

  Also written Gëñëràl, Génèral, Gêñéràl

• a separate name574 records spelled General8 spellings in the group

  Also written Ğēņeřàl, Ğënëřäl, Ğĕńĕŕăĺ, Général, Ǧĕņeràl

• Malay name539 records spelled General4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, Indonesia

  Languages: Malay, Indonesian

  Also written GéNeRaL, Général

• a separate name452 records spelled General5 spellings in the group

  Also written Général

50 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

General is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, military rank name

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• Origin uncertain. Possibly an altered form of French Genereux (see Genereux).

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In Akan, knowledge, to he kept secret, a secret; eny6 as., as. biara nni

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In Russian, General Shpak, Minsk peasant. 1598.

  as a word·A Dictionary of Period Russian Names (Wickenden / Goldschmidt 1996)

• In English, Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 142 years between 1880–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Deskahehb. 1873CAnot in their usual nameIroquis leader
• Norman Generalb. 1893CAlong-distance runner
• Soedirmanb. 1916IDnot in their usual namefirst Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian armed forces
• Gigi Gryceb. 1925USnot in their usual nameAmerican recording artist; jazz saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator (1925–1983)
• General Norman Johnsonb. 1941USAmerican singer-songwriter
• General Bakerb. 1941USAmerican trade unionist (1941-2014)
• General Knasb. 1978SESwedish singer
• General Bootyb. 2002USAmerican football player (born 2002)
• DJ ShubCAnot in their usual nameCanadian musician, DJ and producer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 268 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name General?

We estimate roughly 1.1 thousand people bear General (counting its spellings and scripts) across 2 countries in our records.

In which country does General have the most bearers?

General is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled general.

What does the name General mean?

Recorded meaning: general, overall