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Gender: M

Origin of Gatsby: German surname and literary name

Suddenly, we're hearing the name Gatsby, as in "The Great" character by F. Scott Fitzgerald, used as a first name for girls as well as boys. The book's Jay Gatsby gussied up his name from Gatz, whose meaning is given variously as left-handed, cat, God, and person from Gat. As a first name, it's got a lot of energy and that great pedigree.

A Gatsby is a South African deli sandwich (similar to an American hoagie).

Gadsby is a town in Alberta, Canada.

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Meanings and history of the name Gatsby: | Edit

This appears to have been used occasionally as a first name in the 19th century; both the British census of 1881 and the American census for 1890, list men with the first name "Gadsby."

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Gatsby in song, story & screen: | Edit

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," Gatsby is used as a surname when James Gatz reinvents himself as Jay Gatsby.

The related surname Gadsby is used by Mark Twain in A Tramp Abroad, by George Eliot in The Mill on the Floss, by Rudyard Kipling in The Story of Gadsby, and by Ernest Vincent Wright in Gadsby: Champion of Youth.