Gissela
A feminine name of German origin meaning "bright pledge" or "hostage".
Name Census estimates that about 229 living Americans carry the first name Gissela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gissela today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gissela births was 2003 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gissela. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
229
~ 1 in 1,496,744 Americans
Peak year
2003
20 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,575
Tracked since 1985
Census
Gissela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 586 people with the first name Gissela, which placed it at #18,401 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,401
National first-name rank
People counted
586
586 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gissela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gissela is Hispanic at 96.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Black (0.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gissela described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gissela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.9% · 568
- White2.2% · 13
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
- Two or more races0.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Gissela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gissela from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 106 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gissela by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gissela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gisselas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gissela
The name Gissela has its origins in the Germanic languages, with roots dating back to the 6th century. It is a feminine form of the Old German name Gisil, which means "hostage" or "pledge." The name was particularly popular in the Frankish territories during the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gissela can be found in the Liber Historiae Francorum, a 7th-century Frankish chronicle. The text mentions a Gissela who was the wife of King Clovis I, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty. This Gissela lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries.
In the 9th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Gisela, the daughter of Louis the Pious, the Carolingian Emperor and King of the Franks. Gisela lived from 819 to 874 and played a significant role in the political affairs of the Carolingian Empire.
Another notable figure in history who bore the name Gissela was Gisela of Burgundy, who lived from around 965 to 1007. She was the daughter of King Conrad of Burgundy and became the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry II. Gisela of Burgundy was known for her piety and charitable works.
In the 11th century, Gisela of Swabia, who lived from 990 to 1043, was a significant figure. She was the wife of Emperor Conrad II and played an influential role in the imperial court of the Holy Roman Empire.
During the 12th century, Gisela of Bavaria, who lived from 1165 to 1188, was a notable figure. She was the daughter of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, and married Leopold V, Duke of Austria.
While the name Gissela has its roots in the Germanic languages, it has been adapted and used in various cultures throughout history, including in the Slavic, Scandinavian, and Romance language regions. Its popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, but it remains a significant name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Gissela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gissela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gissela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gissela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gissela going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,496,744 US residents.
Is Gissela a common name?
We classify Gissela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 234 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gissela most popular?
The single biggest year for Gissela was 2003, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gissela is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gissela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 586 people with the name Gissela, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,401 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gissela in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gissela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gissela leans strongly female. 587 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gissela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gissela is Hispanic at 96.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Black (0.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gissela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gissela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.9% (568 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gissela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gissela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gissela in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gissela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gissela in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gissela can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Gissela?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.