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Gillespie (surname)

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Gillespie (/ɡɪˈlɛspi/ ghih-LES-pee[1][2]) is both a masculine given name and a surname in the English language. Variants include Gillaspie and Gillispie.

Origins

The given name is an Anglicised form of the Gaelic Gille Easbaig (also rendered Gilleasbaig), meaning "bishop's servant".[3] The surname Gillespie is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic Mac Gille Easbuig, and the Irish Mac Giolla Easpaig, both of which mean "bishop's servant's son".[4] The given name itself is ultimately derived from a word of Greek origin,[5] the Old Irish epscop being derived via the Latin episcopus from Greek επίσκοπος, epískopos, 'overseer'.[6]

An early example of the name in Scotland occurs in a charter dated 1175–1199, recording a certain "Ewano filio Gillaspeck".[5][7] In Ireland, a family bearing the surname occupied the office of toísech of Clann Aílebra in the late twelfth century.[8] In 1172, for example, the toísech was slain by Donn Slébe Ua hEochada, King of Ulster. This slain Mac Gilla Espuic may be identical to a certain Gilla Óengusa mac Gilla Espuic, rechtaire of the Monaig of Ulster, who is earlier recorded in the king's service.[9] Whatever the case, a later family bearing the surname appears on record as erenaghs of Kilraine in County Donegal. During the 16th and 17th centuries in Ireland, the surname was most common in Ulster.[8] During the nineteenth century in Ireland, the surname was most numerous in the counties of Antrim, Donegal, Armagh, and Tyrone.[10] Scottish Gaelic forms of the surname include GillEasbuig[11] and GillEasbaig.[12]

Gillespie

Fictional characters

  • Alessa Gillespie and Dahlia Gillespie, in the Silent Hill video game series
  • Chief Bill Gillespie, in the novel In the Heat of the Night and its film and television adaptations
  • Dr. Leonard Gillespie, in the Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie film series
  • Rudy Gillespie, on the television series Kickin' It
  • Martin Gillespie, in the television series Byker Grove

Gillaspie

Gillispie

See also

References

  1. "Gillespie". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. OCLC 1120411289. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  2. Flexner, Stuart Berg, ed. (1987). "Gillespie". The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (Second ed.). New York: Random House. p. 806. ISBN 0-394-50050-4. OCLC 1245759921.
  3. Hanks, P; Hardcastle, K; Hodges, F (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 400, 404. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  4. "Gillespie Family History". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  5. Black, GF (1971) [1946]. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History. New York: The New York Public Library. p. 306. ISBN 0-87104-172-3. Accessed via Open Library.
  6. "Letter E, Column 157". The electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (eDIL). Retrieved 30 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  7. Cartularium Comitatus de Levanax. Edinburgh: Maitland Club. 1833. p. 12. Accessed via Google Books.
  8. MacLysaght, E (1996). More Irish Families: A New Revised and Enlarged Edition of More Irish Families, Incorporating Supplement to Irish Families, with an Essay on Irish Chieftainries. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-7165-2604-2. Accessed via Open Library.
  9. Byrne, FJ (2008) [2005]. "Ireland and Her Neighbours, c.1014–c.1072". In Ó Cróinín, D (ed.). Prehistoric and Early Ireland. New History of Ireland (series vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 862–898. ISBN 978-0-19-821737-4.
  10. O'Laughlin, M (1992). The Book of Irish Families Great & Small. Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation. p. 125. ISBN 0-940134-08-X. Accessed via Open Library.
  11. Owen, RC (1993). The Modern Gaelic-English Dictionary. Glasgow: Gairm Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 1-871901-29-4.
  12. Mark, C (2003). The Gaelic-English Dictionary. New York: Routledge. p. 719. ISBN 0-203-27706-6.