English
The surname Gill can be of English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch or Jewish origin. In England the name is derived from the short form of the given names Giles, Julian, or William. It may also be a topographical name for someone who lived by a ravine or deep glen, the Middle English 'gil(l)' ( Old Norman 'gil', gill of a fish, also used as a transferred sense of a ravine ). A family could acquire a place name as a surname under three different circumstances: 1. the gentleman lived or worked in or near some topographical formation or landscape feature, either natural or artificial. 2. he formerly lived in a village and thus acquired the reputation of being from that place. 3. he owned or was lord of the village or manor designated. However, it is safe to say that in most cases a placename merely identifies the place where the original bearer of the name formerly resided; as is the case with the surname Gill. To the Scots and Irish the name is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Mac Gille (Sc), Mac Giolla (Ir), patronymics from an occupational name for a servant or a short form of various personal names formed by attaching this elementt to the name of the saint. To the Dutch the name is a cognative of the given name Giles. The Jewish name is an ornamental one derived from the Hebrew 'gil', joy. The name dates as far back as the tenth century were a Ghil is recorded in historical archives. The name was brought to America predominantly by English immigrants. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of William Gill, a husbandman formerly of Essex, England, who came to America aboard the barque Carolina; he settled