Meaning & History
The first element of this Germanic name comes from Gothic alls "all" or from Gothic alhs (alah in Old High German) "temple." The meaning and origin of the second element is rather uncertain: we know that it comes from gis (the original form was possibly gîs), but we don't exactly know where gis itself comes from. But there are a few possibilities. It might come from Gallo-Celtic gaiso "spear" (see Gaiseric) or it might be a short form of gisel, which means "hostage" or "pledge" (see Giselle). Alagis was the name of a 7th-century king of the Lombards.