# Gillian (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gillian/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒɪliən/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Gill, Gilly |
| Variant spellings | Jillian, Julian |
| US babies named this | 16,127 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 68 / 16,059 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 262, 1996 to 2025 |

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 188 | 1,267 |
| 2012 | 166 | 1,392 |
| 2013 | 120 | 1,730 |
| 2014 | 125 | 1,686 |
| 2015 | 120 | 1,746 |
| 2016 | 105 | 1,915 |
| 2017 | 81 | 2,289 |
| 2018 | 88 | 2,151 |
| 2019 | 59 | 2,834 |
| 2020 | 52 | 3,069 |
| 2021 | 51 | 3,174 |
| 2022 | 52 | 3,135 |
| 2023 | 51 | 3,199 |
| 2024 | 52 | 3,093 |
| 2025 | 47 | 3,307 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 8 | 4,296 |
| 1982 | 5 | 6,704 |
| 1988 | 10 | 4,551 |
| 1990 | 7 | 6,681 |
| 1991 | 5 | 8,663 |
| 1999 | 8 | 7,393 |
| 2000 | 6 | 9,506 |
| 2006 | 8 | 8,997 |
| 2010 | 5 | 12,916 |
| 2016 | 6 | 11,191 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 5 | 3,860 |
| 2009 | 3 | 5,556 |
| 2010 | 3 | 5,707 |
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2012 | 5 | 4,171 |
| 2013 | 6 | 3,536 |
| 2014 | 3 | 5,691 |
| 2015 | 4 | 4,736 |
| 2016 | 5 | 4,096 |
| 2017 | 8 | 2,925 |
| 2019 | 5 | 4,001 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,961 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4,709 |
| 2024 | 6 | 3,695 |
| 2025 | 5 | 4,201 |

## People named Gillian

- Gillian Anderson, American actress (born 1968)
- Gillian Flynn, American author and critic
- Gillian Jacobs, American film, theater and television actress
- Gillian Armstrong, film director
- Gillian Welch, American musician
- Gillian Vigman, American actress
- Gillian Gilbert, English musician, keyboardist, guitarist and singer
- Gillian Rolton, Australian equestrian (1956-2017)
- Gillian Rubinstein, British writer of fiction and plays
- Gillian Carleton, Canadian track cyclist
- Gillian Cowley, field hockey player
- Gillian Lynne, British ballet dancer, actress, choreographer and director (1926-2018)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.