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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Gillian

30 replies

Gitzpoll · 19/02/2017 16:41

What does everyone think? It doesn't seem to be very popular at all but I can't work out why. Is there something weird about this name I haven't spotted?

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NavyandWhite · 20/02/2017 19:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LaundryQueenHatesBunfights · 20/02/2017 17:33

'Thanks for your feedback, especially the cheese and onion crisps comment.  I've always been more of a salt and vinegar McCoys kind of girl.'

Blush sorry OP, thank you for taking it in good humour though! BrewCake

ElvenMoonwings · 19/02/2017 22:47

It's never been a name which has appealed to me in any way. Nothing about it leaps out at me as being charming. I don't hate it. I don't think it's ugly. It just doesn't charm me. I prefer Jill and I don't know why, because I don't usually like short names. Jilly is nicer I think but sounds a nickname.

reuset · 19/02/2017 22:36

I'm going to come clean and admit that this is my name. I was intrigued to find out why my name is so very unused at the moment

Hmm This is baby names. I might have tempered my response if I'd known you wanted opinions on your own actual name!

Your name isn't underused at the moment it was very trendy, back in the 1950s and 60s (when it peaked), and only moved just out of the top 100 in the 1980s, so you share your name with similar age to yourself and older people. As to why people aren't using it in vast numbers for their babies, I think you have your answer from previous posts - it's dated.

reuset · 19/02/2017 22:29

Not a timeless classic one here, dated and frumpy. Usually known as Gill. It's a bit in the same category as Sandra and Pauline Grin

RueDeWakening · 19/02/2017 21:32

My mum would be thrilled if it sounds like the name of someone in their 40s, she's in her late 60s Grin (and is a Gillian!)

MiddlingMum · 19/02/2017 21:25

I love it Smile I love names like Julie, Gillian, Alison, Amanda, but they don't seem to be in favour at all at the moment.

The only Gillians I know are lovely.

Original poster
Gitzpoll · 19/02/2017 20:24

I'm going to come clean and admit that this is my name. I was intrigued to find out why my name is so very unused at the moment (only 3 girls in 2015 according to the ONS - the same number as honeysuckle! Ok if you don't mind having suckle as part of your name).

I've always loved my name. My mum picked it in 1985 because she wanted a less usual name. I've only met a handful of Gillians of any age. It's shortened to Gill a lot, which I think sounds fun, but I like the way the full version sounds too.

Thanks for your feedback, especially the cheese and onion crisps comment. Smile I've always been more of a salt and vinegar McCoys kind of girl. Names take on the character of people we know with that name so I'm not in the least offended by anyone who doesn't like it.

Also, my nan was Lillian. A lovely name but not something I could pick for my child, for obvious reasons.

OP posts:
oleoleoleole · 19/02/2017 20:17

It's my name, I love it but I'm in my late forties! I mainly get Gill but one part of the family call me Gilly. The only thing I'd say is the common spelling is G not J.

lljkk · 19/02/2017 20:13

Gillian Anderson. Can't get classier than herself.

EggsEleven · 19/02/2017 20:10

I don't like Gillian but I do quite like Lillian as suggested above. A nice alternative to the incredibly overused Lily.

MikeUniformMike · 19/02/2017 19:55

It's the name of someone over 60. I don't like it but I do like Jill.

Thelastusername · 19/02/2017 19:53

It sounds frumpy and boring.

Wafflenose · 19/02/2017 19:51

I know one who is about 12, and think it's quite nice.

Ordinarily · 19/02/2017 19:28

I'm not keen, but there's nothing wrong with it. I quite like some of the names from a similar era which are underused now.

Lillian?

EggsEleven · 19/02/2017 18:08

I work with plenty but they're all in their late 30s or 40s/50s. It's not really a name that I'm keen on for women that age never mind a baby.

nooka · 19/02/2017 17:57

I know two lovely ladies called Jill/Jilly/Jillian and Gill/Gillian. Both in their 40s. I think it's just a generational thing, and so doesn't seem like a name for a baby/little girl. Give it another 30 years and it may well go throguh another round of popularity.

This only goes back to 1996, but you can seen the slide even from there. The plus point is that it's an easily recognised name that is very unlikely to be shared.

RiaOverTheRainbow · 19/02/2017 17:52

I like it a lot. It's very likely at least some people would call her Gill or Gilly though so I'd only use it if you like those nicknames too.

Loyly · 19/02/2017 17:45

I really dislike it, sorry.

FriendofBill · 19/02/2017 17:43

Gilly sounds better

KlingybunFistelvase · 19/02/2017 17:40

I don't really like the sound of it very much. I know two and I don't really like either of them - one was a bully at school and the other has sone dodgy political views and a nasty streak a mile wide! So in brief, I don't like it due to negative associations and the sound of it which I find a bit unattractive.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 19/02/2017 17:39

I don't like it either.

Neverknowing · 19/02/2017 17:23

I really dont like it! I think it's a bit dated but then my DD has an 'older' name that I guess some people probably don't like!!

LaundryQueenHatesBunfights · 19/02/2017 17:03

I don't like it at all I'm afraid. For some inexplicable reason it has always reminded me of cheese and onion crisps.

Not helpful at all, of course, if you like it you should go for it though!

Sung · 19/02/2017 17:01

Not sure...I know a Gillian in her forties, one in her seventies and a Jillian in her eighties.
I prefer Jillian I think.