I can’t get Gillian out of my mind

Ok… I’ve officially fallen in love with the name Gillian. (Pronounced Jillian, with a soft G).
I think it’s really gorgeous, strong yet feminine, classic yet unique.
If I were to use it in the future, I would do Gillian [honour middle name] Rose.
Jill and Jilly are such cute nicknames too :two_hearts:
The J spelling is alright, but I love how elegant the G feels.
Does anyone else here like it?

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I am always torn on this name, because I love the way it sounds, but don’t love how it looks like it could be pronounced with the hard G sound. I love that it sounds girly, but also a name that ages well, and it feels familiar yet rare - all things I love in a name!

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I get that- personally, I’ve never thought of it with a hard G and I know some people do but it’s generally not the pronunciation people use. I simply adore the soft G though! It does sound girly, and ages well, simple but classic but not overused :heart:

I love the name [name_f]Gillian[/name_f]! [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] is elegant, fun, youthful yet not childish, and well-known but not popular. I also prefer the G spelling over [name_f]Jillian[/name_f].

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I prefer [name_f]Jillian[/name_f], as I know one, but I’m not sure what my opinion would be if I didn’t knew one spelled with a J :smile:

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I completely agree!

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Yeah, spellings that we know can influence our opinion on names!

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I like it a lot but prefer the J spelling. [name_f]My[/name_f] brain usually tries to default to a hard G when I see [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] even though I know its supposed to be a J sound.

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I do prefer the [name_f]Jillian[/name_f] spelling, but I love the sound -strong but sweet- and the nn [name_f]Jilly[/name_f]!

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I think it’s a nice name. Familiar but not popular. It reminds me of [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] [name_u]Anderson[/name_u], who is really cool (I loved the X Files!).

Oh, and about the pronunciation - I knew a couple of Gillians growing up and I’ve literally never heard anyone use the hard G pronunciation! I’m surprised people actually use it, to be honest.

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It’s a very 1950s name to me, I know a lot of people in my mum’s generation who are Gill or Jill, but it would have a fun vintage feel on a girl now :relaxed:

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I like both equally.

I like it! I also prefer the spelling [name_f]Gillian[/name_f].

The one [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] I know (I know no Jillians, just a Jill) pronounces it how you do, but she mostly goes by [name_u]Gilly[/name_u].

I actually used to know a girl named [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] but she did pronounce it with the hard G sound. [name_u]Gill[/name_u] (like a fish)-ee-in. I know it’s probably not a common occurrence but that’s the only person I’ve ever known named [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] so that’s the default I think of.

It’s not my favorite, but the [name_f]Gillian[/name_f] [name_u]Anderson[/name_u] association really does make me love it more! It’s just not my style, but it is a perfectly lovely name. Definitely familiar, but by no means popular, which is fun.

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Thank you!!

Thanks! A reason as to why I prefer the G spelling is etymology reasons, the G spelling feels more like the Gaelic etymology from Gillean, whereas the J spelling feels more like the Latin etymology from Julius/Julian/Juliana (which has a meaning that makes me uncomfortable) even though they’re the same name

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A 1950s vibe is something I’m going for

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That makes sense :slight_smile:

Only hesitation is only Gillians that I know pronounce it with a hard G- so I would anticipate a lot of errors on that. Shouldn’t be annoying but at the same time will likely happen regularly.

As to the name I’ve always thought it was pretty but it’s also not my style- so I wouldn’t use it but I think it’s a usable and nice name for a little girl!