Gillian
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
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.
Gillian is also given to boys.
Pronounced JIL-yun.
As of October 2026, Gillian ranked #3307 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #303 in 1999, Nameberry popularity #742.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,686 | 125 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #1,745 | 120 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #1,914 | 105 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #2,288 | 81 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #2,151 | 88 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #2,833 | 59 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #3,068 | 52 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #3,172 | 51 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #3,135 | 52 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #3,193 | 51 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #3,124 | 51 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #3,307 | 47 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Gillian for girls
Similar names
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Gillian on lists
Famous Gillians
- Gillian Leigh AndersonGirl
American actress
- Gillian May ArmstrongGirl
Australian film director
- Gillian Howard WelchGirl
American singer,songwriter (pronounced "GILL,ian" hard G)
- Gillian MacLaren JacobsGirl
American actress (pronounced "GILL,ian" hard G)
- Gillian BlakeneyGirl
Australian actress; twin sister Gayle Blakeney
- Gillian MurphyGirl
American ballerina
- Gillian WearingGirl
English conceptual artist
- Gillian Schieber FlynnGirl
American novelist (pronounced "GILL,ian" hard G)
- Gillian VigmanGirl
American comic actress
- Gillian McKeithGirl
Scottish TV presenter
- Gillian Chung (YanGirl
tung) (born Chung Dik,san), Hong Kong singer and actress
Gillian in pop culture
- Gillian HewleyGirl
character in video game "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII"
- Gillian StevensGirl
character in film "Hollywood North"
- Gillian BoardmanGirl
character in "Stranger in a Strange Land" (1961)
- Gillian MacAllisterGirl
character in "Gillian" by Frank Yerby
- Gillian OwensGirl
sister of Sally Owens, character in book/film "Practical Magic"
- Gillian ButtershawGirl
character in BBC's "Last Tango in Halifax"
- Gillian RedmondGirl
character on TV's Call the midwife
- Gillian TaylorGirl
whale doctor in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home