English
Gleason
Gleason comes from Irish Ó Glasáin ‘descendant of Glasán’, from glas ‘green, blue, grey’, and ultimately from Proto-Celtic *glastos.
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*glastos‘green, blue’reconstructed
- Old Irishc. 600–900glas‘green, greenish’
- Irishc. 1200–presentsame form‘green, blue, grey’
- Irish, derivedc. 1200–presentÓ Glasáin‘descendant of Glasán’
- Englishearliest quotation 2025Gleason
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*glastos‘green, blue’reconstructed
- Old Irishc. 600–900glas‘green, greenish’
- Irishc. 1200–presentsame form‘green, blue, grey’
- Irish, derivedc. 1200–presentÓ Glasáin‘descendant of Glasán’
- Englishearliest quotation 2025Gleason
Earliest quotation: 2025, Kaitlan Collins and Tierney Sneed, White House reveals who DOGE acting administrator is: “Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the US…”
The story
Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Glasáin (‘descendant of Glasán’), a personal name which derives from a diminutive form of glas (‘green, blue, grey’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’
gold, fell, yellow, chlorine, gall, cholera, yolk, felon, gullible, choline, gild, glib, zloty, chlorella, 28 more
Today it means
name A surname from Irish.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *glastos / Gleason