Gilbert

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Gilbert is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name1.0M records spelled Gilbert11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Philippines, United States, Belgium

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Gil-Bert, Gilbèŕt, Gîlbèrt, Gīlbert, Gilbért

• Spanish given name309K records spelled Gilbert14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Brazil, Costa Rica

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written ️Gilbert, Gílbert, Gilbërt, Gilbèrt, Gïlbërt

• a separate given name62K records spelled Gilbert3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Ecuador

  Also written Gilberṭ, Gilbért

• Indonesian given name15K records spelled Gilbert3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Gilbert

• Polish given name9.9K records spelled Gilbert24 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, Russia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Polish, Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Гильберт, Гилберт, Жильбер, Гілберт, Гільберт

• Finnish given name5.0K records spelled Gilbert4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Hungary, Philippines

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Gìlbèrt

103 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Gilbert is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from OG Gisilbert/Gislebert, OFr Gislebert, meaning ‘pledge- or hostage-bright’; first attested Gislebertus 1066 DB (W)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In French, Germanic name from gisal ‘pledge’ + berht ‘bright, famous’; name-day not given.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In German, from Germanic *gild-/*gil- + *berht 'bright'; also cf. bird-name usage

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In Irish, Germanic ‘pledge bright’; introduced to Ireland by the Normans.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In French, Germanic gisil + beraht, 'pledge' + 'bright'; St Gilbert.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Gilbert du Motier de La Fayetteb. 1757FRFrench general and politician (1757–1834)
• W. G. Graceb. 1848GBnot in their usual nameEnglish amateur cricketer (1848-1915)
• Gilbert Keith Chestertonb. 1874GBEnglish author and Christian apologist (1874–1936)
• Gilbert Newton Lewisb. 1875USAmerican physical chemist
• Gilbert Ryleb. 1900GBBritish philosopher
• Adrianb. 1903USnot in their usual namecostume designer (1903-1959)
• Irwin Shawb. 1913USnot in their usual nameAmerican writer (1913–1984)
• Gilbert Bécaudb. 1927FRFrench singer, composer, pianist and actor (1927–2001)
• Roger Bannisterb. 1929GBnot in their usual nameEnglish physician and athlete (1929–2018)
• Gilbert Arenasb. 1982USAmerican basketball player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,304 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Gilbert?

We estimate roughly 78 thousand people bear Gilbert (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Gilbert have the most bearers?

We estimate about 69 thousand people bear Gilbert in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled gilbert.

Where is Gilbert most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Gilbert is densest in Costa Rica — about 1 in 1.7 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Gilbert compared with other names?

In the United States, Gilbert is the 471st most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Gilbert a male or female name?

Gilbert is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Gilbert mean?

Recorded meaning: from the Norman personal name Giselbert, literally 'pledge-bright, hostage-bright'; also an anglicization of Kilbride