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From an early date, the name Wido became conflated and confused with the Roman name Vitus (from Latin vita "life."). St Vitus was an early 4th century saint who was martyred under Diocletian and Maximian in 303 AD. His veneration spread in the 7th and 8th century around Europe and became especially popular in Germanic and Slavic lands where it became popular to dance in front of his statue on his feast day.
Veit, the medieval German form of Wido, was used as the German name for Vitus as well, and the Slavic Vid also served as the translation for both Wido and Vitus -- hence the confusion between the two names. To this day, especially in France, St Vitus is also known as St Guy.
Other saints also answered to the name "Saint Guy" or "Saint Guido" including Saint Guy of Baume (d.940), abbot of Baume; Saint Guy of Anderlecht (950-1012), a famous Belgian pilgrim of Jerusalem; and Saint Guy of Pomposa (d. 1046), Italian abbot and hermit.
By the 9th century, Guy and its cognate forms were in good use on the continent, especially among the nobility. Four Dukes of Spoleto bore the name in the 9th century, numerous French dukes and counts, and Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150–1194), a French crusader, became King of Jerusalem and later King of Cyprus.
It was brought to Britain by the Normans in the forms Wy and Wyon, but was superseded by the more common French Guy and Guyon by the 12th century. Both Wy and Guy gained the typical diminutive -ot suffix, creating the names Wyot and Guyot. The feminine form Guyotte/Guyette was also used on occasion.
The name Guy was never especially popular in Britain in the Middle Ages but it was used consistently. The name appears once (out of 814 persons listed) in the London Subsidy Rolls of 1292, and once again out of the 1852 persons in the 1319 Rolls. Brian M. Scott's Given Names from Early 13th Century England, which ranks names from the custumals of 21 manors held by the Abbey of Bec (c.1230-1247), has three citations for the name Guy. This puts the name in the same contemporary popularity group as Jocelyn, Philip, Giles, Andrew, Matthew , Luke and the like.
It was certainly used well enough to become numerous surnames including Guy, Guye, Gye, Guis, Guyon, Gyatt, Guyot, Why, Whye, Wyatt and Wiot.
Guy of Warwick, from an illumination in Le Romant de Guy de Warwik et d'Heraud d'Ardenne, in the Talbot Shrewsbury Book (1444)
The legendary Sir Guy of Warwick was a popular chivalric and romantic figure from between the 13th and 17th centuries. In order to win the hand of the woman he loves, Guy of Warwick embarks on several chivalric adventures during the reign of King Aethelstan, in order to become a knight, slaying mythical beasts and giants. He wins the heart of his lady love but later repents his violent past. His story was popular throughout France and England during the Middle Ages, retold in numerous ballads and chapbooks. He was even sometimes counted as one of the Nine Worthies, replacing Godfrey of Bouillon.
Given his popularity as a figure it is easy to believe that Guy of Warwick was used as a namesake. The Earls of Warwick considered the legendary hero to be their ancestor, and when William de Beauchamp (1238-1298) inherited the title from his uncle, he named his first son Guy after the famous hero.
This Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick was a mighty and influential landowner who was noted by his contempories as a man of great wisdom and learning. Today he is most famous for his part in opposing Edward II and removing his unpopular favourite, Piers Gaveston.
Spenser used the form Guyon for the name of the hero of Book II in his epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590). Sir Guyon, the Knight of Temperance, is the leader of the Knights of Maidenhead Faerie Queene who teams up with King Arthur to defeat an evil witch.
 Guy also survives in folklore not only as a virtuous hero, but also a bad boy in the form of Sir Guy of Gisbourne in the Robin Hood legends. And, most notably, the name in Britain is synonymous with unfortunate Gunpowder Plotter Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), who was left to guard the gunpowder stockpiled under the House of Lords. When the establishment received a tip-off, Fawkes was caught in flagrante and promptly taken away to be interrogated under torture. His story is a famous one, commemorated every year on November 5th, known as either Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night. We actually get the word 'guy' -- a generic term for a man -- from the use of Guy Fawkes effigies on bonfires (known as "Guys") on this night.
It has long been supposed that after the events of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the name Guy was driven out of use because of its associations with unfortunate Guy Fawkes. However, as George Redmonds points out, it remained in traditional use among the gentry families of Yorkshire. The influences of the Fairfax*, Palmes* and Wilstrop* families, in particular, had influence on numerous lower status families in the surrounding areas. In these parts, at least, the name Guy survived in use.
Widespread, Guy received a boost in the 19th century, perhaps thanks to its use in popular literature including two hugely successful best sellers Guy Mannering (1815) by Sir Walter Scott and The Heir of Redclyffe (1853) by Charlotte M. Yonge, both of which feaured principle characters named Guy.
Rankings in England and Wales during the 19th century demonstrate how the name gradually increased in use, reaching a peak in the 1890s:
1860: #235
1870: #201
1880: #169
1890: #147
1900: #170
After this, the name fell out of popular use up until the 1950s, when it suddenly picked up again in, as we can see from Dunkling's data for the number of children registered with the name Guy in every 10,000 births in England and Wales demonstrates:
| 1900 |
1925 |
1935 |
1950 |
1955 |
1960 |
1965 |
1970 |
1975 |
1980 |
1985 |
1990 |
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
- |
12 |
9 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
10 |
2 |
24 |
What could be responsible for this leap between 1950 and 1955? The answer may be that it was thanks to American singer Guy Mitchell (1927-1999) who had six top 5 hits in the UK music charts in 1952-53, two of which went to number 1. He continued to produce top 10 hits (in the UK) up until 1959.
Officially, Guy has only ranked once in the top 100 in England and Wales: #85 in 1964, but as Dunkling's data suggests, that didn't mean it declined in use afterwards.
Since 1996, Guy has been in steady, if slightly sporadic, decline. From #168 (203 births) in 1996, the name reached its lowest point in 2011 at #580 (60 births).
In 2014, Guy ranked #544 in England and Wales with 67 births. In the same year it also ranked #587 (4 births) in Scotland.
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