Gillespie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A Scottish-origin family name borne by various people, such as the American jazz trumpeter Dizzy ; a county in the central part of the US state of Texas
2. A surname of Scottish origin, famously carried by the bebop trumpeter Dizzy ; a rural county in the American state of Texas with its own local government
3. A family name from Scotland, best known through the jazz musician Dizzy ; an administrative region of the southern United States located in Texas

Etymology: Gillespie is an anglicized form of two related Gaelic personal names, the Scottish Gaelic "Gilleasbuig" and the Irish "Giolla Easpaig." Both mean "servant of the bishop," and the surname's second element traces back to the Latin "episcopus," the same root that gave English "bishop." The Gaelic names came into being through a neat pairing: "giolla" (servant, attendant) followed by a form of the Latin-derived word for a bishop, which the Gaels had borrowed and adapted into their own speech. So a name that sounds purely Scottish or Irish carries a Church office at its heart. Bearers of the name were, in effect, named for a role they or their families served in the church's hierarchy. Over the centuries the Gaelic forms were spelled in English ways, and "Gillespie" settled into the familiar form seen today.