Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Gilliam isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Gilliam through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 157
- 147 boys · 10 girls
- Most popular year
- 1920
- 9 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1988. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 9 in 1920. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 225 as a first name in 2020; 28,041 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Gilliam’s family of names
In English usage, Gilliam as a surname has a related form in William.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Gilliam
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Gilliam, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Gaetano
“a man from Gaeta”
>99% boys
Gerrit
“one who is mighty with a spear”
>99% boys
Gustav
“of the staff of the gods”
>99% boys
Isidore
“a gift of Isis”
>99% boys
Griffith
“a mighty chief”
>99% boys
Gaston
“a man from Gascony”
>99% boys
Gennaro
“born of Janus”
>99% boys
Orville
“from the gold town”
>99% boys