Gillian
About Gillian
Gillian is a name that was in common usage in Great Britain until the 1970s, when it dropped out of the Top 100 and is yet to return. Until recently, it had not crossed the Atlantic in significant numbers, except in the short form Jill.
In medieval England, the name Gillian was so common that it was used as a generic name for a girl, just as Jack was for a boy, hence the nursery rhyme Jack and J(G)ill and the expression "every Jack has his Jill." The high profile of actress Gillian The X Files Anderson did a lot to publicize the name in the US -- where it is more often spelled the phonetic Jillian.
Two other noteworthy bearers are Australian film director Gillian Armstrong and Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn. Gillian Boardman is a key character in Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.
Pronounced JIL-yun.
As of October 2026, Gillian ranked #3307 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #303 in 1999, Nameberry popularity #497.
Editor's take: The name Gillian is a girl's name of English origin meaning "youthful".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,686 | 125 | 70 |
| 2015 | #1,745 | 120 | 67.2 |
| 2016 | #1,914 | 105 | 59.3 |
| 2017 | #2,288 | 81 | 46.9 |
| 2018 | #2,151 | 88 | 51.7 |
| 2019 | #2,833 | 59 | 35.2 |
| 2020 | #3,068 | 52 | 32.2 |
| 2021 | #3,172 | 51 | 31.1 |
| 2022 | #3,135 | 52 | 31.7 |
| 2023 | #3,193 | 51 | 31.8 |
| 2024 | #3,124 | 51 | 31.5 |
| 2025 | #3,307 | 47 | 29.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gillian.
- Lorraine
- Loretta
- Marlene
- Georgina
- Johanna
- Dorethea
- Gretchen
- Paulina
- Marian
- Marianne
- Eileen
- Rosanna
- Marilyn
- Darla
- Clarice
- Dora
- Marion
- Nicolette
- Annette
- Beth
Gillian on lists
Famous Gillians
- Gillian Leigh Anderson
American actress
- Gillian May Armstrong
Australian film director
- Gillian Howard Welch
American singer,songwriter (pronounced "GILL,ian" hard G)
- Gillian MacLaren Jacobs
American actress (pronounced "GILL,ian" hard G)
- Gillian Blakeney
Australian actress; twin sister Gayle Blakeney
- Gillian Murphy
American ballerina
- Gillian Wearing
English conceptual artist
- Gillian Schieber Flynn
American novelist (pronounced "GILL,ian" hard G)
- Gillian Vigman
American comic actress
- Gillian McKeith
Scottish TV presenter
- Gillian Chung (Yan
tung) (born Chung Dik,san), Hong Kong singer and actress
Gillian in pop culture
- Gillian Hewley
character in video game "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII"
- Gillian Stevens
character in film "Hollywood North"
- Gillian Boardman
character in "Stranger in a Strange Land" (1961)
- Gillian MacAllister
character in "Gillian" by Frank Yerby
- Gillian Owens
sister of Sally Owens, character in book/film "Practical Magic"
- Gillian Buttershaw
character in BBC's "Last Tango in Halifax"
- Gillian Redmond
character on TV's Call the midwife
- Gillian Taylor
whale doctor in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home