Gillespie
A Scottish and Irish surname from Gaelic names meaning “servant of the bishop,” later also used as a personal name.
The #811 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,232 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally explained from Gaelic elements meaning “servant of the bishop,” with the second element referring to a bishop or episcopal office. Historical sources also connect it with the Gaelic personal name Gilleasbuig, which became the common Scottish form behind Archibald. Older writers sometimes offered different explanations, but the “bishop’s servant” derivation is the standard one in onomastic reference works.
History
Gillespie appears first as a Gaelic personal name in the Highlands and later became established as a hereditary surname. It is especially associated with Scotland, but it also occurs in Ireland and among Scots-Irish families. Spelling variants grew naturally as the name passed between Gaelic and English usage.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older books treated Gillespie as the Gaelic equivalent of Archibald, which helps explain why the name was long used as both a given name and a surname.
From the historical record
“ER. GILLESPIE. A corruption of Gille- Esjniauj, Gaelic, "the Servant of the Bishop." It was originally spelt Gillespie, and frequentlj^ emploj'ed in the Highlands as a Christian name. GILLET. (in jjronunciation Jillet.) The name is supposed to be derived from Gilleste, a town on the borders of France and Piedmont.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Gillespie
- Dizzy Gillespie (1917–1993)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.