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 Kilian is most popular
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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Pomeranian10 boys born+126%
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Silesian14 boys born+105%
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Lubusz3 boys born+101%
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Lower Silesian8 boys born+69%
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Opole2 boys born+44%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian4 boys born+22%
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Lesser Poland7 boys born+3%
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Masovian9 boys born−16%
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West Pomeranian2 boys born−21%
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Subcarpathian2 boys born−45%
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Łódź2 boys born−48%
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Greater Poland2 boys born−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