Gelbert surname?

Question

I have Gelbert's in my family and House of names says that it is German, but they also consider many names that are jewish, German. Ex. Bronstein. I heard somewhere that Gelbert meant Red hair in hebrew or something? My Gelbert Family lived in Russia and was wondering if there were more than one Gelbert families in Eastern Europe. They were also orthodox jews.

-Thanks

Answer 1

You first mistake was using houseofnames as a source for anything.  Legit, respectable genealogists will not use them.

Answer 2

I have absolutely no doubt that there probably were Gelberts in many places in Eastern Europe. As many of us here TRY to explain, repeatedly.. most names are NOT limited to just one location.

That doesn't include the posting (maybe 3 times a day) that try to warn persons that the "research" from houseofnames.com is KNOWN  to be unreliable.  I would use a profanity or two to describe what I personally have read of their "work".

The commentaries that are out there, regarding sites like houseofnames (or other franchises of swyrich corp) come from highly experienced and credible sources.  These are not just the bias from myself, or Shirley, or others. The College of Arms is one authority that houseofnames directly contradicts. The National Genealogical Society in the US is another, that STRONGLY speaks out against the vendors who sell "authentic" family crests/ family histories.

You apparently have valid documentation that your Gelbert family is from Russia. The claim that the name is German may mean that SOME German families have the name.

Trust your own research, which is based in factual information.

Answer 3

The closest to it that www.ancestry.com had was this:

Gilbert Name Meaning and History

English (of Norman origin), French, and North German: from Giselbert, a Norman personal name composed of the Germanic elements "gisil" ‘pledge’, ‘hostage’, ‘noble youth’ (see Giesel) + "berht" ‘bright’, ‘famous’. This personal name enjoyed considerable popularity in England during the Middle Ages, partly as a result of the fame of St. Gilbert of Sempringham (1085–1189), the founder of the only native English monastic order.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.

www.familysearch.org has these spelling variations: GELBER; GILBERT ; GISELBERT; GELABERT; JALBERT;GILBERTT; GILBART.

    The name is found in  Pennsylvania; Wisconsin;   Tex.; New York; Maine; Maryland; Utah; Kansas; Kentucky;  Idaho; Connecticut; Tennessee; VA; IL;  MASS; Iowa; Nebraska;  Barbados (Caribbean); Poland; Austria; France; Russia, Ussr; Netherlands; Hungary; Switzerland; Denmark; Wales; England; Canada; Norway;Spain; &  New Zealand.

The earliest listings on familysearch.org were these:

1.Giselbert de Vergy Gilbert

Birth:   abt 892 AD , Chalon-sur-Saone, Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France  

Death:   8 Apr 956 AD



2. Gieselbert, Count of Brabant Gilbert -

Gender: M;

Birth/Christening: 830 AD

Death:   abt  892 AD

  

3.Gislebert Gilbert , Duke Of Normandy

Birth:   885 AD

Death:   bet  916 and  976 AD

Bronstein is considered a form of this : BRAUNSTEIN

Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name composed of German "braun" ‘brown’ + "stein" ‘stone’

.

http://www.babynamesworld.com/meaning_of...

Gilbert/Gelbert

Meaning:Bright oath



Your great-grandfather?? The name sounds familiar from another search.  :)

Husband

Ike Gelbert

Birth:    , Russia, Ussr

Christening:    

Marriage:  01 AUG 1902  Manhattan, New York, New York

Death:    

Burial:    

Father:   Moritz

Mother:   Fannie



Wife

Lena Kratzberg

Birth:    , Russia, Ussr

Christening:    

Marriage:  01 AUG 1902  Manhattan, New York, New York

Death:    

Burial:    

  Lena's Father:   Jacob

Mother:   Freda