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Killian

Boy name · 123 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Killian: 123 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to boys, peaking at 16 births in 2020.

The name Killian is the anglicised form of the Irish and Scottish Gaelic Cillian, which likely derives from ceall or cill, meaning “church” or “monastery,” giving it the sense of “little church” or “follower of the church.” One of the most famous bearers is Saint Kilian, an Irish missionary who brought Christianity to Franconia in the 7th century and is the patron saint of Würzburg. In modern pop culture, Killian Jones, better known as Captain Hook in the television series *Once Upon a Time*, has given the name a swashbuckling edge. The variant Cillian is far more common in Ireland itself, popularised by actor Cillian Murphy, while the Killian spelling has gained ground in Scotland and the United States since the 1990s.