Gilbert Family

“	Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I loved that have died. My mom, my dad, Jeremy and Jenna, Alaric, John, even John. They're all dead. Everyone is dead.	”
	— Elena whilst trying to burn the Gilbert house down in Stand By Me

The Gilbert Family is one of the main Founding Families in The Vampire Diaries. They seem to be a fairly wealthy family, possessing a house (formerly owned as of Stand By Me after Elena burnt it down), a small building, which was originally Grayson Gilbert's Office and a lake house. The Gilbert family has been linked to the Lockwood Family, the Salvatore Family, the Forbes Family, and the Fell Family since the 1800's.

As of season six, Elena Gilbert and Jeremy Gilbert are the last living members of the Gilbert family.

History

Family Members

Johnathan Gilbert (deceased; killed first time by Stefan Salvatore but was revived because of the Gilbert Ring): Johnathan lived in Mystic Falls in the year 1864 and was part of the Founders' Council. Johnathan wrote stories in journals about his life, including the existence of vampires. His descendants Jeremy, John, and Elena have also read his journals. He had two rings made that would protect the wearer from death by the supernatural - although the rings won't work on the supernatural even if they are essentially human (Doppelgängers) - and they were originally owned by John and Grayson Gilbert. After their deaths, Alaric Saltzman was the owner of one and Jeremy Gilbert is the owner of the other.
Johnathan Gilbert's Unnamed Son (deceased): He was Johnathan's son. He was the father of Samantha Gilbert. Nothing is known about him or his character. He was a member of the Gilbert family.
Christopher Gilbert: He is a member of the Gilbert family. Nothing is known about his character. He was first mentioned by Stefan Salvatore in Dead Man on Campus.
Samantha Gilbert (deceased; killed herself in an insane asylum, ultimately because of the Gilbert Ring): Samantha was a young woman about 25 years old. She was smart and a beautiful brunette. She was one of the town's founding family members and appeared in flashbacks. She was killed by Damon Salvatore in 1912, but she wore a Gilbert Ring, so she was revived, but in 1922, she confessed committing a series of unsolved murders - similar to Alaric Saltzman in the present day who was corrupted by the darkness brought on by his ring - and was locked in an asylum, where she died while attempting to give herself a lobotomy and bled to death on the floor in her cell.
Grayson Gilbert (deceased; drowned after going over Wickery Bridge): Grayson was Jeremy's biological father, Elena's adoptive father and biological uncle. He was the doctor, who helped Isobel Flemming give birth. Later, he and his wife Miranda adopted the baby (Elena). He was involved in a car accident on 23 May, 2009 and drowned after going over Wickery Bridge. He was a member of the town's council along with his wife Miranda. Grayson was a member of the Augustine society.
Miranda Sommers Gilbert (deceased; drowned after going over Wickery Bridge): Miranda was Jeremy's biological mother, Elena's adoptive mother and aunt by marriage. She drowned after going over Wickery Bridge along with her husband Grayson Gilbert on May 23, 2009. She was the older sister of Jenna Sommers and a resident of Mystic Falls, Virginia. She was a member of the town's council.
John Gilbert (deceased; sacrificed his life for Elena): John was Elena adoptive uncle, Jeremy's biological uncle, and Elena's biological father. In his teenage years, John learned about the vampires that had once threatened Mystic Falls from his brother, Grayson, whom he held in high regard and looked up to greatly. Later on, in his teen years, he met and fell in love with Isobel Flemming. Isobel told John that she was pregnant and John brought her to his brother, Grayson, who was a doctor, so that she could give birth to her daughter, Elena. Isobel left Elena in the good hands of Grayson and his wife Miranda, who didn't know that John was actually Elena's biological father.
Elena Gilbert (currently undead): Elena was born in Mystic Falls, Virginia. Elena was adopted by Grayson Gilbert, her biological uncle and his wife Miranda, her adoptive mother and aunt by marriage. Aunt Jenna, who was her and Jeremy's legal guardian. Her actual mother was Isobel Flemming, who was a descendant of the Petrova bloodline, including Katherine Pierce and Tatia. She is the daughter of John Gilbert, Grayson's younger brother. Like the rest of the Gilberts, Elena is also a descendant of Johnathan Gilbert and Samantha Gilbert. She was recently turned to a vampire by Damon's blood. She died by driving off the Wickery Bridge.
Jeremy Gilbert (currently alive): Jeremy is a medium and a supernatural hunter who lives in Mystic Falls with his older adoptive sister and biological cousin Elena. He is the biological son of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert and the biological nephew of Jenna Sommers and John Gilbert. Like the rest of the Gilberts, Jeremy is a descendant of Johnathan Gilbert and Samantha Gilbert. He was a member of The Five until he was killed by Silas in Down the Rabbit Hole. He returned as a ghost in The Walking Dead, saving Elena from being killed by a vengeful Kol, however he was resurrected by Bonnie in Graduation.

Relatives

Isobel Flemming (deceased; ripped off her daylight necklace): Isobel was Elena's biological mother. She was married to Alaric Saltzman, Elena's stepfather and Elena and Jeremy's guardian. She became a vampire after being turned by Damon Salvatore in 2007. Isobel gave birth to Elena, when she was 16, with the help of Grayson Gilbert, John Gilbert's older brother. Grayson and his wife Miranda then chose to adopt Elena. She later kills herself after being compelled by one of Klaus' witches, Maddox, by ripping off her Lapis Lazuli necklace and burning in the sun.

Jenna Sommers (deceased; turned into a vampire and staked by Klaus): Jenna was Miranda's younger sister, Jeremy's and Elena's legal guardian until her death. She was the sister-in-law to Grayson Gilbert. She was Jeremy's biological aunt and Elena's adoptive aunt. Jenna was killed by Klaus as part of a sacrifice ritual needed to break the hybrid curse placed on Klaus. She knew nothing of the supernatural or vampires until she was killed by Klaus and turned into a vampire shortly before her death.

Family Tree

Christopher Gilbert †

Samantha Gilbert †

Jonathan Gilbert †

Jenna Sommers †

Miranda Sommers-Gilbert †

Grayson Gilbert †

John Gilbert †

Isobel Flemming †

Jeremy Gilbert

Elena Gilbert

Name

Gilbert is a name of Norman-French origin, itself from Germanic Gisilberht or Gisalberht. Original spellings included Gislebert, Guilbert and Gilebert. The first element, Gil-, comes from Germanic gīsil, meaning "shaft of an arrow" or gisal "pledge, hostage", while the second element, -bert comes from Germanic -behrt, short form of beraht, meaning "bright" or "famous".
Other spellings and variations of the name Gilbert include Gib, Gibb, Gil, Gilberto, Gilburt, Giselbert, Giselberto, Giselbertus, Guilbert, Gilbirt, Gilbyrt, Gilbart, Gilibeirt, Giliburt, Gilibert, Gilibirt, Gilleabart, Guilbert, Guilbirt, Guilburt.

Trivia

In the books the only members known are Thomas Gilbert, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elena Gilbert, Margaret Gilbert and Aunt Judith Gilbert.
Elena was the only "living" member left of the Gilberts after Jeremy had died.
- Klaus mikealson needed elena's blood to make his hybrids.
Just like Katherine, Elena has lost her entire family except Jeremy.
When Elena lost Jeremy, it caused her to turn off her humanity as he was the last tie to it.
The 5 seasons have a Gilbert Family Member being dead, the first three seasons being at the end -
- Season 1: Katherine, while pretending to be Elena, cuts John's fingers off - and ultimately his Gilbert Ring - so her stabbing him will kill him. The real Elena walks in and goes to the kitchen finding John in a pool of his own blood; when John whimpers the words "Behind you," to Elena, it is shown that Katherine is hovering behind Elena, but vanishes before Elena can see what John is talking about. However, John is taken to a hospital in an ambulance and does not die until Season 2's penultimate episode. Also Jeremy takes an overdose of pills and Anna's blood, hoping to become a vampire. However the blood healed the damage the pills would have caused instead.
- Season 2: after being resurrected by Bonnie's magic, Jeremy hears strange noises and goes downstairs to look, and he sees Anna and Vicki in his kitchen, ultimately discovering that he can see ghosts, but only supernatural people that he knew and then died.
- Season 3: Elena has been taken to the hospital by Stefan, and she wakes up in transition to become a vampire after drowning when Rebekah veered Matt's car off Wickery Bridge to kill Alaric and save the entire vampire race. Prior to these events, Elena collapsed due to a head injury and Meredith Fell used Damon's blood to heal Elena, having to lie to Jeremy so that he wouldn't worry.
- Season 4: Katherine, while pretending to be Elena again, bites Jeremy's wrist to feed Silas, then his neck and offers him to Silas who then breaks Jeremy's neck after feeding from him, which causes Jeremy to die permanently. As Jeremy was a member of The Brotherhood of the Five, he was a supernatural being at the time of his last death and therefore the Gilbert Ring did not work on him.
- Season 5: Damon and Elena blows up the Mystic Grill in order to kill The Travelers and the building explodes. They die as vampires. Then, they meet Bonnie as ghosts and passes through her on The Other Side. Liv, with her witch magic, brings her back as a vampire.
Every member of the Gilbert family has died, but Elena and Jeremy were brought back by the supernatural.
- But, Elena is a vampire so she is technically undead, but Jeremy is 100% alive.
Christopher Gilbert was mentioned by Stefan Salvatore in Dead Man on Campus.
As of I'd Leave My Happy Home For You, Elena is a human again.