indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from location, from given name & ornamental)
Other Forms FormsGeiselnahme, Geiselnehmer, Geiselhaft, Geiseldrama, Geisels, Geisel, Geissel, Geiseln
Meaning & History
Possibly after the Geisel, a river in Saxony-Anhalt, which likely received its name from either the Lombardic patronym Giso, meaning "noble, precious promise" or from the Old High German gewi, from the Gothic gavi, or gaujis, a which is a medieval term for a "region within a country", often a former or actual province combined with the suffix Hart, which means "stag", and comes from the Middle English hert and the Old English heort.Geiselhart could also come from the Proto-Germanic gīslaz, meaning "hostage" combined with Hart, which has roots in the Middle English hert and the Old English heort, meaning "stag".