Masculine Ghislain, Guislain, Gislain or Ghiselin and feminine Ghislaine or Ghyslaine is a French personal name used in countries with French-speaking populations. It is originated with a 7th century saint, Saint Ghislain (died 680) of Hainaut and was latinized as Gislenus.
Etymologically, the name is usually said to derive from the oblique case of a Proto-West Germanic root: *gīsl “hostage, pledge” (see Wiktionary:Ghislain). As such, it is cognate with modern German Geisel "hostage". (However, one source has instead claimed that the name is derived from Germanic roots gis "information" and lind "sweet".[1]) The name possibly became popular as a secondary given name, which was intended to give infants the protection of St Ghislain.[2]
Other people with this given name include:
- Ghislaine Dommanget (1900–1991), Princess of Monaco and actress
- Ghislaine Alexander (1922–2000), British heiress and socialite
- Ghislain Cloquet (1924–1981), Belgian-born French cinematographer
- Ghislaine Roquet (1926–2016), Canadian philosophy professor and nun
- Ghislain Fournier (born 1938), Canadian politician and businessman
- Ghislaine Thesmar (born 1943), French ballet dancer
- Ghislain de Montgolfier (born 1943), French winemaker, head of the Bollinger Champagne house
- Ghislaine Barnay (born 1945), French athlete
- Ghislain Harvey (born 1946), Canadian politician
- Ghislain Lebel (1946–2023), Canadian politician
- Ghyslaine Côté (born 1955), Canadian filmmaker
- Ghislaine Maxwell (born 1961), British socialite, daughter of Robert Maxwell, companion of Jeffrey Epstein and convicted sex criminal
- Lady Ghislaine, yacht named after Maxwell
- Ghislain Anselmini (born 1970), French footballer
- Ghislain Lemaire (born 1972), French judoka
- Ghislain Poirier, artist name Poirier (born 1976), Canadian DJ from Montreal
- Ghislain Gimbert (born 1985), French footballer
- Gislaine Cristina Souza da Silva (born 1988), Brazilian footballer
- Ghyslain Raza (born circa 1988), creator of the viral video Star Wars Kid
- Ghislain Barbe, Canadian illustrator
- ^ Sache, Ivan (4 March 2017). "Saint-Ghislain (Municipality, Province of Hainaut, Belgium)". crwflags.com. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Saint Ghislain of Hainaut". Forget Bruges. 4 November 2020.