Gill

See also: gill

English

Etymology

• As an English surname, converged from variants of Giles (sometimes through Dutch), Julian, and William.
• As a northern English surname, from Middle English gil (“ravine, glen”), from Old Norse gil. The Old Norse is also a source of the Norwegian surname.
• As an Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, variant of McGill.
• Also as an Irish surname, variant of Gall.
• As a Jewish/Israeli surname, from Hebrew גיל (“joy”).
• As a German surname, variant of Gilger.
• As an Indian/Sikh/Punjabi surname, from ਗਿੱਲ (gill, “moisture”).

Pronunciation

• (diminutive of Giles, Julian, Gillian): IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪl/
• (diminutive of Wiliam, surname, Gillingham FC person): IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪl/
• Rhymes: -ɪl

Proper noun

Gill

1. A Scottish and Northern English habitational surname from Old Norse for someone who lived near a gill.
2. A Scottish and Irish surname from Scottish Gaelic [in turn originating as a patronymic], an alternate anglicization of Mac an Ghoill (McGill).
3. A diminutive of the male given names Giles, Julian, or William, of medieval usage.
4. A diminutive of the female given name Gillian, variant of Jill.
   • 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, →OCLC:

     each Jack with his Gill

5. A male given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.
6. A locale in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado; named for early landowner William H. Gill.
   2. A town in Franklin County, Massachusetts; named for Massachusetts politician Moses Gill.
   3. An unincorporated community in Harrison County, Texas.
   4. An unincorporated community in Lincoln County, West Virginia; named for an early postmaster.
   5. A ghost town in Harding County, South Dakota; named for early postmaster Carl M. Gilberg.
7. A surname from Punjabi from ਗਿੱਲ (gilla).

Derived terms

• Gill Sans

Noun

Gill (plural Gills)

1. (soccer) Someone connected with Gillingham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Gill is the 435^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 74,948 individuals. Gill is most common among White (65.23%), Black (13.96%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.43%) individuals.

See also

• Gil

 

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Gill”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 43.