Gil

Did you know?

A few things about Gil you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Gil

Gil Vicente

Portuguese writer (1465–1536)

Choose Gil and your child shares a first name with Gil Vicente, a Portuguese writer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Gil, like who?” Gil Vicente's Wikipedia article is available in 38 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Gil Vicente on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 85,470 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Gil, 20 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Gil would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryGil first shows up in US birth records in 1914, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 111 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1957, when it ranked #685. Today it's #4,857, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowGil was 2.0× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 41,841 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 85,470.
• 🍂TrendGil has slipped 582 places over the last five years and now sits at #4,857. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.

About the name Gil

Gil is a boy name of English, Greek and Hebrew origin. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with G and ending in “-gil”. US birth records list Gil for boys from 1914 to 2025, in 110 of those 112 years. Its best year was 1957, when it ranked #685 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #4,857, with 20 babies.

Origin:English namesGreek namesHebrew namesIrish namesSpanish names