Gillian

JILL-ee-an

Feminine variation of Julian

"youthful"

Gillian Origin and Meaning

The name Gillian is a girl's name of English origin meaning "youthful".

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 Rank in US Top 1000

# 832 in the US

Gillian Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 824 on Nameberry

Gillian Popularity

• 824 Nameberry 2024

20 Names Similar to Gillian

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Gillian.

• Jillian
• Gretchen
• Jill
• Magdelene
• Hillary
• Annette
• Diane
• Bronwen
• Delia
• Miranda
• Justine
• Joan
• Guinevere
• Hilary
• Sally
• Constance
• Gwyneth
• Margo
• Louise
• Rebecca

Famous People Named Gillian

• 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