girl's name
Jill
JIL
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 212,804
Northern Ireland
#444
2020 births
Jill is a girl's name, a medieval short form of Gillian, and it is half of the oldest surviving English nursery rhyme pair. It has fallen to 5795th in the United States, though France still places it at 1191st.
- Jill is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1966, when 7,886 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 157,878 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1906.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Jill over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 5 |
| 1910s | 53 |
| 1920s | 256 |
| 1930s | 1,578 |
| 1940s | 11,890 |
| 1950s | 39,125 |
| 1960s | 69,310 |
| 1970s | 55,245 |
| 1980s | 24,478 |
| 1990s | 4,748 |
| 2000s | 1,335 |
| 2010s | 425 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 124 |
What Jill means
Jill means youthful, carried through Gillian from the Roman family name Julius — whose own meaning has never been established, with descended from Jupiter and youthful both proposed and neither settled.
Where Jill comes from
Jill is the medieval short form of Gillian, the English form of Juliana, feminine of Julian and ultimately of the Roman gens name Julius — whose meaning is unresolved, with descended from Jupiter and youthful both proposed. Jill was so ordinary in medieval England that it became a generic word for a girl, which is why Jack and Jill are the pair in the rhyme and why every Jack has his Jill was proverbial by Shakespeare's time. The rhyme itself is first recorded in 1765 but the pairing is much older.
Jill in use
Jill peaked in the United States in 1966, when 7,886 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now charts in two of the seven markets we track — 1191st in France on 30 births and 5795th in the United States on 21 — across 212,804 lifetime births. France now places it more than four thousand ranks above the United States, which is a striking inversion for a name this thoroughly English.
How popular is Jill?
In 2025, Jill was given to 21 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Jill is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Jill
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Jill also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Jill over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Jill in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Jill
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Jill — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Jill
What does the name Jill mean?
Youthful, carried through Gillian from the Roman Julius — whose own meaning is unresolved.
Is Jill short for Gillian?
Yes, and it has been used independently since the medieval period.
Why are Jack and Jill paired?
Both were so ordinary in medieval England that they became generic words for a boy and a girl.
How popular is Jill?
5795th in the United States, though France places it at 1191st.
Is Jill a girl's or a boy's name?
Jill is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Jill?
Jill has 1 syllable.
Is Jill a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Jill currently ranks #1,191 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.