Gilbert
A Germanic name meaning "bright pledge," always given to boys and rarely met: most Poles have never come across a Gilbert. A handful of newborns still get it each year, but the trend is easing off.
Gilbert Pronunciation
Gilbert is pronounced GEEL-bert (/ˈgilbɛrt/).
What Gilbert means
Where Gilbert comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Gilbert comes from Germanic roots: gisil, meaning pledge or hostage, and beraht, meaning bright. Put together they give "bright pledge." Normans carried the name into England after 1066, and it took hold among the English while keeping a firm place in French.
One early bearer was Gilbert of Sempringham, the twelfth-century English priest who founded the Gilbertine order. His name held.
English and French both claim Gilbert as their own. In Polish tradition a second sense has been fixed to it, wspaniały łucznik, the splendid archer. That reading came later, drawn from the sound rather than from the roots. The pledge stayed underneath.
On a Polish class register, Gilbert stands apart from the Piotrs and Jakubs around it. It has no soft Polish diminutive of its own. The name arrives whole, gisil and beraht, bright pledge.
When Gilbert celebrates name day
Gilbert appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 4 February.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Gilbert
1 in 60130 men in Poland is named Gilbert. 355 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1591 among male names.
Gilbert's popularity over time
4 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1050 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2014.
Where Gilbert is most popular
Gilbert is most popular in Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 229% above the national average (3 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+144%) and Lesser Poland (+112%).
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian3 boys born+229%
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Pomeranian3 boys born+144%
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Lesser Poland4 boys born+112%
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Masovian6 boys born+103%
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Silesian2 boys born+6%
Gilbert as a middle name
Gilbert is a first name for 355 men in Poland and a middle name for another 167, a 68/32 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 541st, between Georges (167) and Maxymilian (166).
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#539 Friedrich167
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#540 Georges167
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#541 Gilbert167
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#542 Maxymilian166
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#543 Conrad165