Kilian
A Celtic name at root, from the Old Irish word for church, carrying the sense "little church". In Poland it stays rare and goes only to boys, a name most people here have never met.
Kilian Pronunciation
Kilian is pronounced KEEL-yahn (/ˈkiljan/).
What Kilian means
Where Kilian comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Kilian grew from Celtic ground. The root is Irish. The name reaches back to Old Irish cill, a word for church or monastic cell, and its diminutive gives exactly the meaning recorded here: little church.
The name owes its German life to one man. Saint Kilian was an Irish missionary who traveled to Würzburg in Franconia and was killed there around 689. He became the patron of the city, and every July Würzburg still holds the Kiliani-Volksfest, a folk festival named for him. That is how a Celtic word took root in German soil.
In Poland the name keeps a modest profile. Its imieniny falls on the eighth of July, the saint's own feast day. A child who signs Kilian on a school register carries a word that once meant little church.
When Kilian celebrates name day
Kilian appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 8 July.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Kilian
1 in 87127 men in Poland is named Kilian. 245 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1974 among male names.
Kilian's popularity over time
17 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #553 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2007.
Where parents choose Kilian
Kilian is most popular in Pomeranian, 126% above the national average (10 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+105%) and Lubusz (+101%). It is least common in Greater Poland and Łódź, 69% and 48% below average respectively.
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Pomeranian
+126%1 in 14,732 babies
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Silesian
+105%1 in 16,256 babies
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Lubusz
+101%1 in 16,552 babies
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Greater Poland
−69%1 in 107,622 babies
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Łódź
−48%1 in 63,359 babies
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Subcarpathian
−45%1 in 60,283 babies
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Pomeranian+126% 10 born1 in 14,732 babies+126%
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Silesian+105% 14 born1 in 16,256 babies+105%
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Lubusz+101% 3 born1 in 16,552 babies+101%
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Lower Silesian+69% 8 born1 in 19,642 babies+69%
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Opole+44% 2 born1 in 23,048 babies+44%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+22% 4 born1 in 27,345 babies+22%
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Lesser Poland+3% 7 born1 in 32,417 babies+3%
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Masovian−16% 9 born1 in 39,363 babies−16%
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West Pomeranian−21% 2 born1 in 42,213 babies−21%
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Subcarpathian−45% 2 born1 in 60,283 babies−45%
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Łódź−48% 2 born1 in 63,359 babies−48%
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Greater Poland−69% 2 born1 in 107,622 babies−69%
Kilian as a middle name
Kilian is a first name for 245 men in Poland and a middle name for another 60, an 80/20 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 946th, between Gerd (60) and Mohan (60).
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#944 Frédéric60
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#945 Gerd60
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#946 Kilian60
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#947 Mohan60
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#948 Rolf60