Given name & surname
Gillespie
Gillespie is used as a given name and a surname. One interpretation is “a servant of the bishop; the son of the bishop's servant.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “a servant of the bishop; the son of the bishop's servant.”
Where it comes from
Gillespie comes from Scottish Gaelic, and ultimately from Latin.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Scottish use, Gillespie is used as a form of Gaelic.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Gillespie through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1912
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1912. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 40,456 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Gillespie’s family of names
Gillespie has an affectionate form in Beistean. Gillespie has a related form in Gillaspea. Gillespie has a related form in Gillaspee.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 14
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Gillespie
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Gillespie, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Gilmore
“a servant of the Virgin Mary”
>99% boys
Gilman
“a manservant”
>99% boys
Beattie
“one who brings joy”
>99% boys
Geddes
Geddes is a surname from Scottish Gaelic.
>99% boys
Ferdie
“a courageous voyager”
>99% boys
Kester
“from the Roman army's camp” · “a follower of Christ”
>99% boys
Balfour
“from the grazing land”
>99% boys
Dunbar
“from the castle at the headland”
>99% boys