indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Masculine
Usage Georgian (Rare), Literature
Scripts გირშელ(Georgian)
Other Forms Formsგირშელი (Girsheli; nominative case)
Meaning & History
Meaning uncertain. According to a Russian source, the name comes from the Yiddish name Hershel, which seems unlikely in the Georgian context. Instead, it is more likely that the name is either Turco-Persian in origin, or fully Persian.The first element of this compound name might be derived from either the Crimean Turkic honorific title Giray (see Giray) or from Persian گیر (gir), which is the present stem of the verb گرفتن (gereftan) or (giriftan) meaning "to take, to catch". It ultimately comes from Middle Persian griftan meaning "to take, to hold, to restrain". For the second element of this name, compare Ardashel and ჯიმშელ (Jimshel), which is a parallel form of Jimsher.In Georgian literature, Girshel is the name of a character from the historical novel The Right Hand of the Grand Master (1939) written by Konstantine Gamsakhurdia (1893-1975).