I like to receive the answers to the following questions: What is the
origin or meaning of the following typical German first names:
Gilsela, Hermann, and Armin? What is the origin of the German family
names: Schmitz, Wernike?

Hello again Hermann and thank you for the nice rating you gave me in
your previous question about food additives.

Background on origins of German names:

“The earliest family names derived from the first name of the first
bearer (Patronym). Later names derived from the place of dwelling and
location of the homestead. If a person of family migrated from one
place to another they were identified by the place they came from. Of
more recent origin are names derived from the vocation of profession
of the first bearer. These names comprise the largest group and the
most easily recognizable, for they tell what the first bearer did for
a living. Another group are names derived from a physical or other
characteristic of the first bearer. Finally, there are names which
tell you the state or region a first bearer and his family came from;
the age old division in tribes and regions (low German, middle German
and upper German) is often reflected in names.”
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/nameword/apend-a.html#namefirst

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I was not able to locate the meaning of the name Gilsela.
A google search for Gilsela received 79 results without any luck on
meaning or origin of that name.
://www.google.com/search?hl=es&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Gilsela&btnG=B%FAsqueda+en+Google&lr=

It is possible that Gilsela may be a variant of the name Gisela. The
meaning for the name Gisela is as follows:
 
GISELA   
German, Dutch and Spanish form of GISELLE 
GISELLE:   French, English
"hostage" or "pledge" from Germanic gisel. This is also the name of a
well-known ballet by Adolphe Adam.
Source: Behind the Name Website
http://www.behindthename.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?terms=giselle

The meaning of Gisa, Gisela and Gisele, is “pledge” and is of Teutonic
origin.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1739/gi-gz_names.html

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Hermann : Variants include Armand, Armando, Armin, Ermanno, Ermano,
Ermin, Harman, Harmon, Herman, Hermie, and Hermon.
http://www.20000-names.com/male_h_names.htm

HERMANN   m   German
German form of HERMAN
HERMAN   m   English
Pronounced: HUR-man
"army man" from Germanic heri "army" combined with man "man". A famous
bearer was Herman Melville, the author who wrote 'Moby Dick'.
Source: Behind the Name Website
http://www.behindthename.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?terms=herman

The meaning of the German name Hermann is “warrior” and is of Teutonic
origin.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1739/ha-hz_names.html

HERMAN, Hermann, Hermon
Cultural Origin: Old German
Inherent Meaning: Noble Soldier
Spiritual Connotation: Righteous
http://www.kyladyj.com/names/h_names.html

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ARMIN   m   German
Modern form of Arminius, which was possibly an old Latinized form of
HERMAN
Source: Behind the Name Website
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/ger.html

The meaning of the German name Armin is “soldier” and is of Teutonic
origen.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1739/aq-az_names.html

Armin (m.)
From Latin Arminius(Hermann),who defeated the Romans in Germania in 9
A.D
Source: http://german.about.com/library/blvornamen02.htm

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Variants:
Schmitz, Schmitt, Schmidt, Schmidtke, 
http://surnamearchive.com/surnames1/schmitt.htm

Schmidt/Schmitt is Smith in English
Source: Germanic Surname Lexikon
About Website
http://german.about.com/library/blsurname02.htm

There are surnames that are derived from the vocation or profession of
first bearer such as: Arzt - doctor; Bader - barber; Bauer – farmer,
Schmidt - smith; (Blacksmith), therefore the first bearer of the
surname Schmitz was a blacksmith
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/nameword/apend-a.html#namefirst

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There are surnames derived from physical or other characteristic of
first bearer such as: Altmann - old man; Hellmann - light man; Dick -
fat person; Stammler – stutterer.
Source: http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/nameword/apend-a.html#namefirst

Therefore, considering the above, Wernike or Wernicke, is possibly
derived from this characteristic “a man who nods” because “wer” in
German means “who” and “nicke” means “who nods.”

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Search Criteria:

://www.google.com/search?hl=es&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=origen+OR+meanings+of+German+names+%2BWernicke&spell=1

://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=origen+OR+meanings+of+German+names+%2BSchmitz

://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=origen+OR+meanings+of+German+names+%2Barmin

://www.google.com/search?hl=es&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=origen+OR+meanings+of+German+names+%2Bhermann&btnG=B%FAsqueda+en+Google&lr=

://www.google.com/search?hl=es&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=origen+OR+meanings+of+German+names+%2BGisela&spell=1

://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=origen+of+names+%2Ahermann


I hope you find this helpful.

Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

very comprehensive answer. Only one point seems incorrect. Family name
Schmitz has, according to other research done a hundred years ago,
nothing to do with smith, black or gold or otherwise. Info, not
confirmed, is that the name Schmitz was the first teutonic family name
mentioned in the annals of Tacitus, but the family bearing that name
was not connected with the trade of smith.

It's possible that the name Schmitz is not connect with (black)smiths,
but -- as a native speaker of German -- I'd find it rather surprising.
I associate the name "Schmitz" with "Schmidt", which is definitely
related to "Schmied" = "(black)smith".