| French form | Gaspard |
| Pronunciation | gas-PAR (the final -d is silent) |
| Meaning | Keeper of treasure; treasurer; guardian of riches |
| Language origin | French / possibly Persian (ganzabara) or Chaldean |
| Gender | Male |
| Name day | 6 January (Feast of the Epiphany / Three Kings) |
Gaspard's etymology is among the most debated of any French name. The most widely accepted derivation traces it to the Old Persian ganzabara — meaning "keeper of the treasure" or "treasurer," from ganza (treasury) and bara (bearer, keeper). This would make Gaspard a name that arrived in European Christianity via the ancient Persian world — appropriate for a name associated with the Magi, who in tradition came from "the East."
The name's entry into French comes entirely through its association with Caspar (also spelled Casper, Jasper, or Gaspard), the traditional name given to one of the Three Magi — the wise men or kings who followed the star to Bethlehem. The New Testament does not name the Magi; they were given names in later Christian tradition, and Caspar/Gaspard became established as the youngest of the three, bringing frankincense. The Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January is the name day for Gaspard in France.
Gaspard has been used in France since the medieval period, when the cult of the Three Magi was widespread. The Cathedral of Cologne, which claims to hold the relics of the Three Kings, was a major pilgrimage destination drawing French pilgrims, and the names Gaspard, Melchior, and Balthazar all found their way into French Catholic naming conventions.
The name has no strong regional concentration in France, though it has been slightly more common in the Catholic heartlands of the north and east. It was never among the most common French names but maintained a steady presence in educated and Catholic families. In the 21st century Gaspard has become fashionable in France as part of a revival of classical, slightly unusual names that feel both French and distinguished — alongside names like Théodore, Augustin, and Léonard.
French-American: Gaspard appears in Louisiana records particularly around the Feast of the Epiphany tradition, where children born near 6 January were sometimes named for one of the Three Kings. The name Gaspard Monge (1746–1818), the French mathematician who invented descriptive geometry and accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, demonstrates the name's intellectual and scientific associations in the French tradition.
Québécois: Quebec used Gaspard throughout the colonial period, typically in families with strong Catholic observance. The name appears in 17th and 18th-century Quebec parish registers, particularly in communities along the St. Lawrence. The Gaspésie region of Quebec — the Gaspé Peninsula — takes its name not from Gaspard but from a Micmac/Mi'kmaq word, though the coincidence has sometimes reinforced the name's regional associations.
Gaspard de la Nuit — the pseudonymous name taken by Louis Bertrand (1807–1841), French Romantic poet. His posthumously published collection of prose poems under this name became one of the foundational texts of French Symbolism and inspired Ravel's great piano suite.
Gaspard Monge (1746–1818) — French mathematician, inventor of descriptive geometry and a founder of the École Polytechnique. He accompanied Napoleon's Egyptian expedition and was one of the great scientific figures of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period.
Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572) — Admiral of France and leader of the Huguenots, assassinated at the start of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572). His death precipitated one of the most catastrophic events in French religious history and made his name a martyr-symbol for French Protestantism.
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