diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/3451-gitlab-group-member-deprecate-name-and-path.yml b/changelogs/fragments/3451-gitlab-group-member-deprecate-name-and-path.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b83c18b62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/3451-gitlab-group-member-deprecate-name-and-path.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+deprecated_features:
+  - gitlab_group_members - setting ``gitlab_group`` to ``name`` or ``path`` is deprecated. Use ``full_path`` instead (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.general/pull/3451).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_group_members.py b/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_group_members.py
index 890f4feba4..8c351aaceb 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_group_members.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/source_control/gitlab/gitlab_group_members.py
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ options:
         type: str
     gitlab_group:
         description:
-            - The name of the GitLab group the member is added to/removed from.
+            - The C(full_path) of the GitLab group the member is added to/removed from.
+            - Setting this to C(name) or C(path) is deprecated and will be removed in community.general 6.0.0. Use C(full_path) instead.
         required: true
         type: str
     gitlab_user:
@@ -185,6 +186,9 @@ class GitLabGroup(object):
                 return group.id
         for group in groups:
             if group.path == gitlab_group or group.name == gitlab_group:
+                self._module.deprecate(
+                    msg="Setting 'gitlab_group' to 'name' or 'path' is deprecated. Use 'full_path' instead",
+                    version="6.0.0", collection_name="community.general")
                 return group.id
 
     # get all members in a group