Gillian

My name is Gillian with a soft G, and my entire life I have been correcting people on how to say my name. I was actually quite shocked to see these comments that Gillians with hard G have trouble with mispronunciations in the US, because I'm on the East Coast and just about every person I come across will first say my name with a hard G. I've been thinking you all had it easy with zero mispronunciations since you have phonetics on your side.

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Every single time someone reads my name I get an anxious lump in my throat and mentally prepare myself to immediately correct someone the second that hard G comes out of their mouth, which happens 8/10 times.
And no offense to those that have the hard G pronunciation- but to me it's like hearing nails on a chalkboard, and the "gill" makes me think of a gutted fish. But even without my obvious childhood trauma negative association with that pronunciation, I probably still wouldn't think it as pretty as soft G.
The soft G actually feels soft to say as it rolls off the tongue, hard G feels sharp and punchy.

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I love my name a lot, I didn't as a kid but I do now because of how unique it is. I can almost always rely on being the only Gillian in the room.
When I went to college my dorm had another soft G Gillian so I decided to go by my even more unique and super uncommon middle name so as to avoid confusion (I'm a little spoiled with being used to having a name no one else has, I don't like sharing). It was really nice to have a break from mispronunciations and correcting during that time, but I ended up missing hearing Gillian and switched back after college. That break gave me a better appreciation for my name.

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So if you want to name your kid Gillian, no matter the pronunciation, give them a nice middle name to fall back on ;) because while this name is really beautiful it's a bit stressful to actually live with.

My mother was born in the early 1940's and her name is Gillian pronounced with a hard G. She was born in Australia and is of Scottish and Irish ancestry, and she believes that Gillian with a hard G is the Scottish version of the name. She doesn't consider it an odd pronunciation and even knew other women with the same name. Her friends call her 'Gilly' for short.

I've been friends with three Gillians and every one of them pronounces their name JIL-ee-ən. So, for me GIL-ee-ən sounds so wrong. All three are early to mid-nineties babies.

We are proud to have a Gillian with a hard G here in Pennsylvania. She was born in 1998. At the time, I had only heard the name once previously as it was the name of my cousin's girlfriend about 8 years previous. My wife liked the name too. Ironically, when we moved into our present home, we found that there was a Gillian with a soft G across the street that was the same age.

I am Gillian - pronounced with a hard G. My grandmother named me after finding the name in a book. My mother wanted to name me Marion Roberta after my two great grandmothers, but my grandma persisted. I wish I knew the book, or more about the name. I have never met anyone with the same spelling and pronunciation. I love my name now, but I didn't like it as a kid. Does anyone know the origin of the pronunciation? Is it in fact Gaelic? My mother and grandparents have all died and I have so many questions about my name.

I'm elated to run across this thread after years of feeling like the only woman in the world with the hard "G" pronunciation. I've embraced my name with age and appreciate the uniqueness, but it's nice to know I'm not carrying the name alone. I've yet to run across another Gillian with a hard G in the U.S.

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My mom got my name from an Irish book in 1977. I too was called Gilligan and all too often, Jillian, which all you hard G Gillian's will understand is burdensome. I cant blame anyone for not knowing and I respect the effort but it gets old correcting people all day who still get it wrong. And seeing the fear in people as they approach you and don't remember how to say your name. I don't want people to feel bad so I always say close enough works but it does matter to me. I have this longing to hear people say it correctly. I too cringe when people call me Jillian. I'm a beautiful but tough, tattooed woman and hard G fits me. But Jillian does not fit my personality. I feel like when it's mispronounced, I'm being misrepresented. It's a constant struggle.

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I get called Joanne a lot too over the phone because without lips to read, their minds can't comprehend someone being named Gillian, no matter how many times I correct them. Or before they hear me speak over the phone they assume it's a man's name and seem thrown off at the woman's voice on the other end. My last name is a very masculine Irish name too, so my whole name has a masculine feel to it. The struggle! But I love being called "G" or Gill. Its takes the stress off of everyone involved.

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I love the comments here that say it's a beautiful name but they wouldn't name their kids that. I can understand that. It's not an easy name to live with. Wouldn't change my name but I wouldn't put that burden on my own child.

The soft G rolls off the tongue like a ball of butter.

My friend pronounces her name Jillian but it's spelled Gillian.

I like the hard G pronunciation a lot more. I think it's because I don't like the name Jill at all. But I think hard-G Gillian sounds pretty.

As someone with the name of Gillian, the CORRECT pronunciation... depends on the person. I have the U.K. English pronumciation of GILL-ee-an. GILL as in what fish have...

There's an Australian television reporter called Gillian Bowen whose name is pronounced with a hard G.
It sounds so wrong to anyone born and brought up in Britain, where Gillian is always correctly pronounced with a soft G. Growing up in Britain, I knew half a dozen Gillians at school and there was a British politician called Gillian. All without exception pronounced their name with a soft G.
The hard G is a very contemporary twist and detracts from the beauty of this historic name.

The guide says to pronounce it "jill-ee-en", with a "j" as in "joke", but Gillian Anderson, Special Agent Dana Scully from the ever-popular X-Files series, pronounces it "gill-ee-en", with a "g" as in "good." Just thought I should leave this here! ;p
[added GIL-ee-un as an alternate pronunciation, but the actress pronounces her name the other way -ed]

The comment from 4/17/16 is incorrect. Here's a quote from Gillian Anderson herself: "My name is pronounced with a soft g, not a hard one. It's Gill like jam, as opposed to gun." http://www.gilliananderson.ws/transcripts/96_97/9710us.shtml.

My name is Gillian. And ever since I was a kid, every single teacher has mispronounced my name with a soft g sound. And people still do it today, and it annoys the crap out of me! I'm always telling them, no it's Gillian, with a hard g, just like it looks. I now say, it's the Irish way of saying, which in fact is actually the correct way of saying it. Ugh! But I love my name and would not change it for anything! I love my nicknames too, I have several of them. Gili (which is Israeli), Gillie and Gilly.

To the people saying it's "wrong" to pronounce it with a hard G, I know someone who pronounces it that way.

I see the guide has an alternate pronunciation of this name. It is wrong to pronounce it any way but with a soft G, like a J sound.