Killian

Meaning of Killian

Killian, borne of the ancient Gaelic “Cillian,” traces its twin roots to cill, the “little church,” and to ceallach, the “strife” that tempers steel, and when voiced in English as KIL-ee-ən or softened in Irish as KIL-yən, it flows like mist crossing emerald fens before settling with the deliberate grace of ink on washi. The name drapes itself in the legend of Saint Cillian—missionary monk and fearless wanderer—while cinemas and television have since burnished it with the magnetic glint of characters such as the swashbuckling Captain Killian Jones, giving the syllables a quiet audacity. In America, Killian has journeyed from near-whispered rarity in the 1980s to a firm foothold within the nation’s Top 400, rising and falling like a lone temple bell caught between ocean spray and mountain air. Through it all, Killian remains cool and clear, a bridge of stone and silk, promising a child attuned both to contemplation and to adventure, as calm as a Kyoto garden after rain yet as untamed as the Atlantic wind that once lifted Celtic sails.

Pronunciation

American English

• Pronunced as KIL-ee-ən (/ˈkɪliən/)

Irish Gaelic

• Pronunced as KIL-yən (/ˈkɪljən/)

• Cillian
• Kilian
• Dylan
• Lachlan
• Kellan
• Kellen
• Callan