The names Geri and Freki have been interpreted as meaning either "the greedy one" or "the ravenous one". The name Geri can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic adjective *geraz, attested in Burgundian girs, Old Norse gerr and Old High German ger or giri, all of which mean "greedy". The name Freki can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic adjective *frekaz, attested in Gothic faihu-friks "covetous, avaricious", Old Norse frekr "greedy", Old English frec "desirous, greedy, gluttonous, audacious" and Old High German freh "greedy". John Lindow interprets both Old Norse names as nominalized adjectives. Bruce Lincoln further traces Geri back to a Proto-Indo-European stem *gher-, which is the same as that found in Garmr, a name referring to the hound closely associated with the events of Ragnarök.