← All names

Gillian

Girl name · 8,717 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Gillian: 8,717 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 590 births in 1977.

From the Latin *Aemilianus*, the feminine form of the Roman family name *Aemilius*, Gillian ultimately means "rival" or "striving one," though it also emerged as a Scottish variant of Gillian (from Julian), sharing roots with the Gaelic *Gille* meaning "servant" or "lad." The most famous bearer is perhaps actress Gillian Anderson, best known for her role as Dana Scully in *The X-Files*; another is Scottish folk singer Gillian Welch, whose music evokes the landscapes of her heritage. While no major places are directly named after her, the name Gillian bears a close etymological cousin in the English village of Gillingham, which derives from a similar Old English root. Notably, in Scotland, Gillian has been a steady presence on birth registers for decades, often spelled with the soft 'G' to differentiate it from the unrelated but phonetically similar Jillian.