Bassil

Bassil is a French surname of Ancient Greek origin. It is a derivative of the name Basil (royal, kingly), which comes from the name Vassilios. It is not to be confused with Bassel.

This surname recorded in over fifty different spellings from Basil, Bassile, Bazelle, and Bazeley, to Basilon and Vasile, derives from the word "basileios" meaning royal, and originally was given only to children of royal or noble birth.

In the 4th century a.d. the name was born by St Basillos also known as Basil of Caesarea, the bishop of Caesarea, and long regarded as one of the four fathers of the Eastern (Christian) Church.

History in France

 * The surname Bassil was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France where the family has been a prominent family for centuries, and held a family seat with lands and manor. The family were well established in the region of Dijonnais and several members of the family distinguished themselves through their contributions toward the community in which they lived and were rewarded with lands, titles and letters patent confirming their nobility. One of the more interesting records found was that of Pierre Basile (died April 6, 1199), also named Bertran de Gurdun and John Sabroz, a French boy famous for shooting King Richard I of England with a crossbow at the siege of Châlus-Chabrol on March 25, 1199. Apparently, King Richard was not mortally wounded by Basile's bolt but the wound resulted in gangrene which lead to the king's demise.

Given name

 * Bassil Da Costa (1990–2014), Venezuelan university student, killed during the 2014 protests against the Government of Venezuela

Surname

 * Pierre Basile (died 1199), French boy from Limousin, famous for shooting King Richard I of England with a crossbow
 * Louis Bassil (born 1695), French merchant in New France
 * Toni Basil (born 1943), American singer and actress
 * François Bassil (born 1934), banker and founder of Byblos Bank
 * Gebran Bassil (born 1970), politician
 * Ray Bassil (born 1988), Lebanese trapshooter
 * Semaan Bassil (born 1965), Lebanese banker