Gizella

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Girl · Germanic

Gizella

Say it: GHEE-zel-law

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Germanic gisil, usually understood as 'pledge' or 'hostage'.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Brought to Hungary by Saint Stephen's Bavarian queen and common around 1900, but rare for babies today.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

569 babies given this name since 1901
At its height in 1914, about 1 in 23,800 girls
5 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Hungarian German

The family of the name

Other spellings: Gizi

German	Gisela
French	Giselle

Famous bearers

Gisela of Bavaria, first queen of Hungary, wife of Saint Stephen

Names worth a look

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JolánGirlUsed as the Hungarian form of Yolande, whose origin is uncertain; András Dugonics popularized the form Jolánka in an…Middle Ages · forgotten

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JocelynGirlFrom the Norman name Joscelin, a diminutive of Gauzelin, from the Germanic tribal name of the Gauts (Goths);…Middle Ages · peak 2007

GiselleGirlFrench form of Gisela, from Germanic gisil, whose sense ('pledge, hostage' or 'offshoot') is uncertain.Victorian · peak 2007

Where this comes from

Royal and noble genealogies
Calendars of saints and name days
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

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.