← Back to Victorian and Belle Époque
Boy · Germanic, through French
Ghislain
Say it: gee-LAN
Meaning
After St Ghislain of Hainaut; probably from Germanic gisil 'pledge, hostage', but uncertain.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Its wave through time
No birth counts are recorded for this name in the records loaded here: it has been given to fewer than five babies a year, or not at all, since records began.
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- Calendars of saints and name days
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.