Jil
Feminine · “a form of Jill”
Jil is Jill with a single l, a spelling that breaks one of the tidiest rules of English. The name itself is so old and so ordinary that English even gave it to an animal.
How old is the name Jil?
Jil first appears in US birth records in 1945 — 80 years ago. The typical Jil alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 500 people named Jil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jil most popular?
Jil peaked in 1957, reaching #1808 nationally. See the whole 1957 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Juliana to Jil
The story of Jil
Jill was so common in medieval England that it became a word for a girl, and it is still the proper name for a female ferret, while the male is a hob. English spelling has a habit, sometimes called the floss rule, of doubling f, l, s and z at the end of a one-syllable word after a short vowel: staff, hill, pass, buzz. Jill follows it and Jil breaks it, which is exactly what makes it look new.
Meaning
a form of Jill, from Gillian and Juliana
Jill is the English short form of Gillian, itself from Juliana, the feminine of the Roman family name Julius. Jil is a spelling with one l.
How the name formed
- Juliana
- Gillian
- Jill
- Jil
Related forms: Jill · Gillian
Pronouncing Jil
JIL
One syllable, said like Jill.
Nicknames for Jil
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1945
- Most girls named
- 195736 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1808reached in 1957
- Change vs 2001
- −16.7%5 in 2002, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jil in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jill in English — spelling variant
- Gillian in English — related form
Jils among us
people named Jil are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jil sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It sounds exactly like a familiar, friendly name.
- It is as short as a name can be.
- Nearly everyone will add the second l.
- The single l may be read as a typo on forms.
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Jil
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Jils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Jil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jil in 2025?
- Jil is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Jil with classmates?
- Jil will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jil? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jil and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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