Gaël Givet

Gaël Givet-Viaros (born 9 October 1981), known as Gaël Givet, is a French footballer who currently plays for Arles-Avignon in Ligue 2. He is a left-footed centre back who can also play left-back. Givet was a Champions League runner-up with Monaco in 2004 and was part of the French team which reached the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Monaco

Born in Arles, France, Givet started his professional career at AS Monaco as a left back before moving to centre half. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Guingamp in December 2000. He played for Monaco between 2000 and 2007, making 178 league appearances and scoring a respectable 8 goals. The highlights of his time at the club were winning the French League Cup in 2003 and reaching the UEFA Champions League Final in 2004, where he missed out on a winner's medal with a 3–0 defeat against Jose Mourinho's FC Porto. He played a pivotal role in their success, making 13 Champions League appearances during the campaign. He made a name for himself in the 2003-04 season where he blossomed in the Monaco defense alongside Patrice Evra, Julien Rodriguez and Sébastien Squillaci.

Givet

Givet (French pronunciation: ​[ʒi.vɛ]) is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France very close to the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It borders the french municipalities of Fromelennes to the east and Rancennes to the south and Foisches to the southeast.

Later on, another building was added to the fort, the Caserne Rougé, the longest barracks of France at that time, named after Pierre François, Marquis de Rougé, general of the French armies k.a. 1761.

History

The town's history claims that Saint Hubert lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed hands several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678, and was later invaded by Russians and Germans.

In World War II, Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12, 1940. The city was liberated September 7, 1944. By December 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient Charlemont fortress. The German Ardennes Offensive targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse. The British, under Montgomery, organized a last-ditch defense, and on 24 December, the German drive was stopped about 10 kilometers from Givet.

Gaël

Gaël (Gallo: Gaèu) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.

It lies southwest of Rennes between Saint-Méen-le-Grand and Mauron. In the 18th century, a fair was held twice a year in August and October.

Toponymy

Old versions of the place-name include Guadel in 799, Wadel in 816, Vadel in 851, Wael in 1096, Gael as soon as 1112.

Its Breton name is Gwazel, that comes directly from Wadel > Gwadel > Gwazel, in Breton intervocalic [d] becomes [z], like in mezo ″drunk″, Welsh meddw ″drunk″. In French intervocalic [d] disappears totally : Wadel > Wael (Latin cadena > French chaine > English chain) and initial Germanic w- became gu- [gʷ] (+ -a) before becoming simply [g] : Guadel > Gael (cf. Old French guarder > French garder, English guard). The symbol ë means in Modern French that the preceding a has to be pronounced : Ga-el [gaɛl] (not [gɛʲl])

Nevertherless the place-name is not from Breton but from Gallo-Romance Wadellu(m), derived of Old Low Franconian *wad ″ford″ > French gué ″ford″ (Old Norman wei > Norman vey, Picard, Walloon wez). There were always Gallo-Romance speaking communities east of Saint-Brieuc and the Breton languages disappears totally around Gaël in the Middle Ages to be replaced by Gallo.

Gaël (given name)

Gaël (feminine Gaëlle) is a French (Breton) given name. Its etymology is uncertain, it may be related to the ethnonym Gael (Goidel); alternatively, it may be a variant of the name Gwenhael (name of a 6th-century Breton saint).

While the popularltiy of the masculine name Gaël has been consistently at about rank 100 in France during the 2000s, the feminine name was at rank 100 in 2000 but has declined in popularity since, dropping below rank 400 by 2010. The masculine name Gael in the United States rose steeply in popularity during the 2000s; below rank 1,000 before 2002, it rose to rank 146 in 2012.

Gael also sees some use as a feminine given name in the United States, as a variant of Gail, Gayle (short form of Abigail).

People called Gaël (Gael)

Men:

Gál

Gál is a Hungarian surname. Notable people with the surname include:

See also