How Did Gonzaga University Get Its Name?

How did Gonzaga University get its name? And are we the fans of Gonzaga basketball even saying their name correctly?

Famous Gonzaga Alumni

Bing Crosby: Legendary singer/actor who attended from 1922 to 1924. Famously expelled in 1924 after rolling a piano out a window. 

Tom Foley: Former U.S. Speaker of the House.

Christine Gregoire: Former Governor of Washington.

Sherman Alexie: Author and filmmaker.

John Stockton: NBA all-time assists and steals leader.

Domantas Sabonis: NBA All-Star.

Adam Morrison: Only Gonzaga player to win the Wooden Award.

Mary Fairhurst, Barbara Madsen, Debra Stephens: Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justices.

How exactly did the name Gonzaga in Spokane originate?

Are we even saying the name correctly? The name comes from Montua, Italy (in northern Italy, roughly halfway between Milan and Cortina), where it was the namesake of the ruling family in the Renaissance era for almost 400 years, starting in the 1300s. The name has Spanish origins, relating to the family name Gonzalo (Visigothic in origin) and translates to ‘battle elf”. 

How should you really say Gonzaga?

In Spokane, Gonzaga is correctly pronounced “gone-ZAY-gah” (think how you would say GO ZAGS).  In Europe (where the name originated), its proper pronunciation is “gone ZAH-gah.” 

The origins of Gonzaga University

Father Joseph Cotalgo, the very same person who started the Catalgo Mission in Idaho, founded Gonzaga College in 1887. As one of the Jesuits (known as the Black Robes in the Northwest), I named the church after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. That’s why we have a church on the modern-day Gonzaga campus, called the Saint Aloysius Church. The striking-looking church was built in 1911. 

Who exactly was Aloysius Gonzaga?

Aloysius was born into a noble family in 1568. He could have lived out his life in Italy as a lord with some land, but instead, he became deeply religious at a young age. At age 9, Gonzaga decided he was going to be abstinent forever. At age 17, disgusted by the plebs, he moved to Rome to become a Catholic Jesuit priest. Aloysius spent most of time in prayer. He studied theology and philosophy. He was most well-known for helping commoners during the plague. This devotion to the sick ultimately took his life at a young age of 23, on June 21st,1591.

Sainthood for Aloysius

He was officially canonized as a saint in 1726 by order of Pope Benedict XIII.

Proper credit for the information

I came across this information for Gonzaga’s origin, from one of my favorite local content providers, Miles Bergsma, who started the Waterfall guy page on Twitter/X and is also well known as the Spokane Storytime guy on Social Media.