Find out how popular the last name Gillon is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Gillon.

Gillon, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Gillon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gillon in America

Gillon is the 19053rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gillon surname appeared 1,429 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Gillon.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gillon to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Gillon

The surname Gillon is of French origin and is believed to have originated in the region of Normandy during the medieval period. It is thought to be a habitational name derived from the place name Guilon, which in turn is derived from the Gaulish personal name Gwilo.

The earliest recorded instance of the name Gillon can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as Guillun. This suggests that the name had already been established in Normandy before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

In the 12th century, a record exists of a Gillon de Trazegnies, who was a knight and lord of Trazegnies in the county of Hainaut, which is now part of Belgium. This indicates that the name had spread from Normandy to other parts of northern France and the Low Countries.

Another notable bearer of the name was Sir John Gillon, a Scottish soldier and knight who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. He was a supporter of Robert the Bruce and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

In the 16th century, a French Huguenot named Jean Gillon fled religious persecution in France and settled in Scotland, where his descendants became prominent members of the Scottish gentry. One of his descendants, Robert Gillon, was a successful merchant and shipowner in the 18th century.

During the Renaissance period, a Flemish painter named Gillon Gillain (c. 1550-1615) gained recognition for his religious and mythological works, which can be found in various churches and museums in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the 19th century, an American businessman and philanthropist named Alexander Gillon (1829-1899) made a significant fortune in the tobacco industry and used his wealth to establish several educational institutions, including the Gillon Free School in South Carolina.

The name Gillon has also been associated with several place names, such as Gillon in Meuse, France, and Gillon Burn in Scotland, suggesting that it may have been used as a locational surname in some cases.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gillon

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Gillon.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Gillon was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Gillon has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Gillon was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Gillon, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!