Family name origins & meanings
- German (Gisch) : from a short form of the Germanic personal name Gisulf, from gīsil ‘pledge’, ‘hostage’, ‘noble youth’ (see Giesel) + wolf, wulf ‘wolf’.
- Matthias Gisch from Assweiler in the Palatinate arrived in Philadelphia in 1733 with a group of Mennonites. From him are descended all American Gish families.