Gillen
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "bright-headed".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Gillen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gillen today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gillen births was 1990 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gillen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gillen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gillen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1990
5 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1990 SSA rank
#8,583
Tracked since 1990
Census
Gillen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 104 people with the first name Gillen, which placed it at #52,876 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#52,876
National first-name rank
People counted
104
104 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gillen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gillen is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gillen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gillen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.9% · 81
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 9
- Black or African American7.7% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 5
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Popularity
Gillen: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Gillen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gillen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Gillen
The name Gillen is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic language, with its roots traced back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Gaelic word "giolla," meaning "servant" or "attendant," often referring to a young man serving a lord or chieftain.
In early Irish society, the name Gillen was commonly used as a descriptive byname or nickname for individuals who worked as servants or attendants. Over time, it evolved into a distinct surname and eventually a given name.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Gillen can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a renowned chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a certain Gillen O'Mulrenin, who lived in the 13th century and was a prominent scholar and poet in Ireland.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gillen. One of the most famous was Gillen of Dungiven (c. 1180-1260), a renowned Irish poet and storyteller from County Londonderry. His works, which were written in the Irish language, have been preserved and are considered important cultural artifacts.
Another notable Gillen was Gillen Oge O'Cahan (c. 1400-1475), a powerful Irish chieftain from County Londonderry. He played a significant role in the political affairs of Ulster during his lifetime and was known for his military prowess.
In the 17th century, Gillen Naghten (c. 1620-1680) was a prominent Irish Catholic lawyer and landowner from County Roscommon. He was an influential figure during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the subsequent Williamite Wars.
Moving into the modern era, Gillen D'Arcy Wood (1870-1943) was an Australian-born writer and journalist who worked for various newspapers in the United States and Canada. He was known for his travel writing and articles on outdoor life.
Finally, Gillen Fernandez (1930-2009) was a renowned Cuban artist and sculptor. He was celebrated for his abstract and modernist works, which often explored themes of Cuban identity and culture. His sculptures and paintings are displayed in galleries and museums around the world.
While the name Gillen has its roots in Irish Gaelic, it has since been adopted and used in various cultures and regions, particularly in English-speaking countries with strong Irish heritage or connections.
People
Gillen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gillen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gillen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gillen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gillen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Gillen a common name?
We classify Gillen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gillen most popular?
The single biggest year for Gillen was 1990, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gillen is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gillen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 104 people with the name Gillen, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,876 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gillen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gillen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Gillen on both sides of the split. Of the 104 people counted with this name, 65 were male (62.5%) and 39 were female (37.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gillen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gillen is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gillen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gillen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (81 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gillen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gillen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gillen in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gillen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gillen in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gillen can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Gillen?
Find out how many Americans are named Gillen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.