Gillespie (surname)

Gillespie (/ɡɪˈlɛspi/ ghil-ESP-ee) 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".[1] 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".[2] The given name itself is derived from a word of Latin origin,[3] the Old Irish epscop being derived from the Latin episcopus.[4]

An early example of the name in Scotland occurs in a charter dated 1175–1199, recording a certain "Ewano filio Gillaspeck".[3][5] In Ireland, a family bearing the surname occupied the office of toísech of Clann Aílebra in the late twelfth century.[6] 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.[7] 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.[6] During the nineteenth century in Ireland, the surname was most numerous in the counties of Antrim, Donegal, Armagh, and Tyrone.[8] Scottish Gaelic forms of the surname include GillEasbuig[9] and GillEasbaig.[10]

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

Gillaspie

Gillispie

See also

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Gillespie Family History". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  3. 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.
  4. "Letter E, Column 157". The electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (eDIL). Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  5. Cartularium Comitatus de Levanax. Edinburgh: Maitland Club. 1833. p. 12. Accessed via Google Books.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Owen, RC (1993). The Modern Gaelic-English Dictionary. Glasgow: Gairm Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 1-871901-29-4.
  10. Mark, C (2003). The Gaelic-English Dictionary. New York: Routledge. p. 719. ISBN 0-203-27706-6.
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