The word 'gossip' as a noun originally was 'godsib', i.e., someone who was related to another by being a godparent. So that if I am someone's godfather, the parents of my godchild are my godsibs and vice versa. This originally presumed a kinship or very close friendship, so that gossips were quite intimate with each other. You find the word used frequently in Bocaccio, also in some English works. The word seems to have gone out of use by the late 17th century. (This is without LIU -- doubtless one of the OED possessors can provide more accurate info.)

As to the modern use of the word, gossips are not exclusively women, contrary to what many men may think. There are a couple words I have heard for a male gossip, but offhand, I can't think what they are. Let's hear what y'all have heard or seen.