Gill may be a surname or given name, derived from a number of unrelated sources.

Europe

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In Europe, various cultures use the name, examples being:

  • the Dutch form of the given name Giles
  • in English, Gill may be a hypocorism of a number of given names, including Giles, Julian, William (Guillaume), Gillian, Gilbert
  • in Northern English, Scots and Norwegian, it may be a topographic name, ultimately derived from Old Norse gil 'ravine'; for example: Lord Gill
  • as a surname, an anglicization of the Scottish or Irish patronymic McGill (or Mac Gille, Mac An Ghoill and variants), also derived from the origins of the same English name.

Indian subcontinent

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  • in Punjab, a clan of Jats and Ramgharias (ਗਿੱਲ or گل), it may be derived from the Punjabi word 'gil' meaning "moisture".[1][2][3][4][5] According to oral history, the progenitor of the clan was a man named Gill.[6] Shergill, Virk, and Sidhu are descendant clans of the Gill Jat clan.[6][7] The name is also used by the Chuhra (Balmiki and Bhangi) caste, including the Mirasis.[8][9] According to bhāt (bardic) records, the Gill Jat clan claims origin to an abandoned child found by a raja in a moist, jungle area of the wilds whom was being attended by a lion.[10] This tale is recounted in colonial-era literature.[10] Connections to historic and contemporary Iranic peoples, such as the ancient Gelae tribe of the Scythians and the present-day Gilaki people, and locations such as Gilan, have been suggested.[10] There were half a million Gill Jats recorded in the 1881 British India census.[10] The Gill Jats had a marriage custom which involved digging a hole in a muddy spring.[10]

West Asia

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In Hebrew, a masculine given name or byname meaning "joy, gladness" (גִּיל, feminine form גִּילָה, Gilla).

East Asia

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In Korean, a common personal name often transliterated as Gil.[11]

People with the surname Gill

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gill, Gurcharan Singh (2008). "CHAPTER 2: The Gill Clan – Section A. Indo-Scythian Origin". Deeper Roots of the Gill, Bhatti, Sidhu, Brar, Tur, and Related Jat and Rajput Clans. Indian Family History Society. p. 12. The descendants of Gillpal use the family surname 'Gill'. There are many sub-castes such as Sher-Gill, Jhalli-Gill and so on.
  2. ^ Duleh, Hoshiar Singh; Singh, Gurjant (2001). Jatta da Itihas ਜੱਟਾਂ ਦਾ ਇਤਿਹਾਸ [History of the Jats] (in Punjabi). Translated by Preet, Pritam Singh. Lahore Books Ludhiana. pp. 106–112.
  3. ^ Challenging the rule(s) of law : colonialism, criminology and human rights in India. Kalpana Kannabirān, Ranbir Singh. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. 2008. p. 332. ISBN 978-81-321-0027-0. OCLC 501176322.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ Pettigrew, Joyce J. M. (2023). "Chapter 4 Patterns of allegiance I". ROBBER NOBLEMEN a study of the political system of the sikh jats. [S.l.]: ROUTLEDGE. ISBN 978-1-000-85849-5. OCLC 1367232807.
  5. ^ Hanks, Patrick (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set. Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780199771691. 9. Indian (Panjab): Sikh name, probably from Panjabi gil 'moisture', also meaning 'prosperity'. There is a Jat tribe that bears this name; the Ramgarhia Sikhs also have a clan called Gill.
  6. ^ a b O'Brien, John (2006). The Construction of Pakistani Christian Identity. Research Society of Pakistan: Publication. Vol. 96. Research Society of Pakistan. p. 50. As well as being a Chuhra gotra , the Gill are an important zat of the Jat tribe based especially in the Lahore and Ferozepur districts. Their mythical ancestor Gill, was said to be the father of Shergill, the founder of another Jat clan.
  7. ^ The City of Faridkot: Past and Present. Monograph – Dept. of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University, Punjabi University Department of History and Punjab Historical Studies. Vol. 2. Fauja Singh, R. C. Rabra. Punjabi University, Patiala. 1976. p. 5. When this child grew up, he took [a] wife from a Gill Jat family. Thus was this line of Bhatti Rajputs converted into a Jat clan which has ever since been known as Sidhu after the name of their ancestor, Sidhu Rao.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ People of India. Punjab. I. J. S. Bansal, Swaran Singh, Anthropological Survey of India. New Delhi: Anthropological Survey of India. 2003. pp. 60, 322. ISBN 81-7304-123-7. OCLC 55042800.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ^ Ram, Ronki (1 March 2023). "Understanding Diversity and Deras within the Sikh Panth (Community): Some Critical Reflections. | Journal of Sikh & Punjab Studies | EBSCOhost". openurl.ebsco.com. p. 151. Retrieved 29 September 2024. In the latter half of the twentieth century another practice of hiding caste under the cover of adopted gotras (clan surnames) of the dominant/upper castes, especially among the lower castes, became quite popular. Gotras like 'Atwal', Gill, 'Sandhu', and 'Sidhu' are often being adopted by many 'ex-untouchables' in their desperate attempts towards upward social mobility.
  10. ^ a b c d e Jhutti, Sundeep Singh (2003). The Getes (PDF). Issue 127 of Sino-Platonic papers. Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania. pp. 40, 52, 109. Gilan is said to be " 'the land of Gil,' an ancient tribe which classical writers mentioned as gelae (B.B. 1911, 12: 6)." So "Gilan ... [is] ... the country of the Gelae" (B.B. 1911, 13: 20). The reference to mud is quite interesting because this story appears in the Gill Jat clan bard-an ancestor of the Gills was a child found by a Raja (King) lying in a wet muddy spot, thus he was named Gill (Duleb, chp. 4). Rose also discusses this story, he says the ancestor of the Gills was found by a king "with a lion and abandoned in a forest. As he was found in a marshy (gili) place, he was named Sher [Lion] Gil" (Rose 1883,2: 299)! Whether there is any historical value to this story is not the question, but it seems consistent with the name of Gilan Province in Northern Iran, suggesting that Gill is an Iranian word; this of course is bolstered by the existence of the Iranian-speaking Gil or Gilaki people who still inhabit that region today. Moreover, the Gills maintain a strange wedding custom, which involves' digging soil out of a muddy pond (Duleh, chp. 4). Gill is probably the largest Jat Sikh clan, numbering probably around a half million individuals, based on the census data of 1880 (lbbetson 1916, 121).
  11. ^ Korea Focus – December 2012. The Korea Foundation (한국국제교류재단). 30 March 2013. ISBN 9788986090925. The same holds true for the use of language. One thing that keeps frustrating me all the time is the Romanized personal names of Koreans, especially the order of family name and given name. On the back side of their business cards, most Koreans have their Romanized names written in the Western style with the given name coming first and the family name last. For example, Hong Gil-dong is written as "Gil-dong Hong" or "Kil-dong Hong." I believe the order of family name and given name is an important issue from the viewpoint of identity. Saying one's family name first and given name next is part of the unique culture of Koreans. Chinese and Japanese also say their names in the same order. I hope Koreans maintain this order when they write their names in English, like "Hong Gildong" "Hong Gil-dong."