Is the Tamil name Savari derived from the name Xavier? I want to know whether Savari is the Tamil Christian male name for Xavier?
Is the Tamil name Savari derived from the name Xavier?

It appears that the Tamil name Savari is not a Christian name and is unrelated to Xavier, after St. Francis Xavier. 

The given name Xavier is a masculine name derived from the 16th-century Spanish Navarrese Roman Catholic Saint Francis Xavier.

St. Francis Xavier’s last name indicates where he is from: Javier, Spain.

Although not a very common name in Tamil, Hindi or Sanskrit, it could be used as a baptismal name in the Catholic Church for it is not offensive to the dignity of Christianity.


In Hindi it means a passenger.
In Sanskrit it means gift of God.
In Tamil it means mounted state or riding.


No exact English transliteration of the Tamil name can be found at the moment, but the above should suffice for now.

The Wikipedia page on the given name of Xavier states that it is as follows in the Tamil language: Savari (சவாரி). However, seeing that it gives no sources for this connection, it must be treated as dubious for the moment. In the Basque language it is a place-name (and surname) etxe berri, meaning 'castle', 'new house' or 'new home'. This does not agree with the above information as regards to the Tamil definitions of this name and is thus doubtful until proven that the contrary is true.

For more information on non-Catholic Christian names and baptism, please read my response to this question: Is Nessa or Vanessa a Catholic name?