Jil
A feminine name of English origin meaning "youthful, young woman".
Name Census estimates that about 434 living Americans carry the first name Jil. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jil today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jil births was 1957 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jil. 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.
People living today
434
~ 1 in 789,757 Americans
Peak year
1957
36 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2002 SSA rank
#16,625
Tracked since 1945
Popularity
Jil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jil from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 208 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jil 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 Jil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jils live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jil
The name Jil is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language. It is a shortened form of the name Gillian, which itself is derived from the French name Gillette, a diminutive of the masculine name Giles. The name Giles is thought to come from the Greek name Aegidius, which means "young goat" or "kid."
Jil was not a common name in ancient times, and there are no known references to it in historical texts or religious scriptures from that era. The earliest recorded instances of the name Jil appear to be from the Middle Ages in Europe.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Jil was Jil de Toul, a French sculptor who lived in the 13th century. He is renowned for his work on the Strasbourg Cathedral, which includes intricate stone carvings and architectural details.
Another notable figure was Jil Muaka, a 14th-century merchant and explorer from the Republic of Venice. He is credited with establishing trade routes between Europe and parts of Asia, contributing to the expansion of the Venetian Republic's commercial empire.
In the 15th century, Jil de Bretigny was a French noblewoman and patron of the arts. She commissioned several works of art and literature, helping to support and promote the artistic culture of the Renaissance period in France.
During the 16th century, Jil van Hout was a Dutch painter known for his religious and mythological works. His paintings were highly regarded and can be found in various museums and collections across Europe.
In the 17th century, Jil Sobieski was a Polish noble and military leader. She played a significant role in the defense of her country during the Polish-Ottoman War, and her bravery and strategic skills were widely celebrated.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Jil. While not as common as some other names, Jil has a long and varied history, appearing across different cultures and periods.
People
Jil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jil as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 434 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jil 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 789,757 US residents.
Is Jil a common name?
We classify Jil as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 559 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jil most popular?
The single biggest year for Jil was 1957, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jil is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jil a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jil in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.