Gillespie surname meaning

Gillespie is a Scottish and Irish surname from Gaelic Mac Gille Easbuig (Irish Mac Giolla Easpaig), “son of Gille Easbuig.” The personal name means “servant of the bishop”—gille/giolla, “servant” or “devotee,” plus easbuig/easpaig, “bishop,” itself from Greek episkopos, “overseer.” The surname thus marks descent from a man so named or titled, not necessarily that every ancestor was clergy. Gillispie and Gilespie are spelling variants. Parent’s name is the catalog type because the Mac- form is a patronymic built on that personal name, and the Gaelic analysis is high confidence.