# Killian > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Killian > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Killian.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian > Source revision: 1337627662 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For other uses, see [Killian (disambiguation)](/source/Killian_(disambiguation)). **Killian** or **Kilian**, as a [given name](/source/Given_name), is an [Anglicized](/source/English_language) version of the [Irish](/source/Irish_language) name **Cillian**. The name *Cillian* was borne by several early Irish saints including missionaries to [Artois](/source/Artois) (France) and [Franconia](/source/Franconia) (Germany) and the author of the life of [St Brigid](/source/St_Brigid).[1] The name is said to derive from [Saint Kilian](/source/Saint_Kilian), an Irish missionary to Germany in the 7th century, who, according to the [Acta Sanctorum](/source/Acta_Sanctorum), was born in [Mullagh, County Cavan, Ireland](/source/Mullagh,_County_Cavan) c. 640. He departed for his mission to the continent with 12 apostles from Kilmacologue in the parish of [Tuosist](/source/Tuosist), County Kerry, Ireland.[2] In 689, he was martyred in [Würzburg](/source/W%C3%BCrzburg), now in Bavaria, and subsequently became the city's patron saint. The most likely meaning of the name is 'little church', a reference to someone prayerful or spiritual, *cill* meaning 'church' in the [Irish language](/source/Irish_language), while the suffix *-ín* is used affectionately to indicate a "pet" or diminutive status.[3] Patrick Woulfe wrote that *Cillian* is a diminutive of *[Ceallach](/source/Cellach_(disambiguation))* which means 'war', 'strife', or 'bright-headed'.[4] ## Notable people named Cillian - [Cillian Buckley](/source/Cillian_Buckley) (born 1992), an Irish hurler - [Cillian Farrell](/source/Cillian_Farrell) (born 1977), an Irish hurling manager - [Cillian McDaid](/source/Cillian_McDaid) (born 1997), an Irish Gaelic and Australian rules footballer - [Cillian Morrison](/source/Cillian_Morrison), an Irish Gaelic footballer - [Cillian Murphy](/source/Cillian_Murphy) (born 1976), an Irish actor - [Cillian O'Connor](/source/Cillian_O'Connor) (born 1992), a Gaelic footballer for Mayo - [Cillian Ryan](/source/Cillian_Ryan), an economist and Pro Vice-Chancellor International, Nottingham Trent University - [Cillian Sheridan](/source/Cillian_Sheridan) (born 1987), an Irish professional footballer who plays for Kilmarnock - [Cillian Twomey](/source/Cillian_Twomey), a retired consultant physician in geriatric medicine at Cork University and St. Finbarr’s Hospital, Cork, Ireland - [Cillian Vallely](/source/Cillian_Vallely), an Irish musician - [Cillian Willis](/source/Cillian_Willis) (born 1985), a professional rugby union footballer employed by Leinster Rugby ## Notable people named Killian - [Killian Brady](/source/Killian_Brady) (born 1990), an Irish Gaelic footballer - [Killian Brennan](/source/Killian_Brennan), an Irish footballer with the League of Ireland club St Patrick's Athletic - [Killian Clarke](/source/Killian_Clarke) (born 1993), an Irish Gaelic footballer - [Killian Dain](/source/Killian_Dain), ring name of Northern Irish professional wrestler Damian Mackle - [Killian Donnelly](/source/Killian_Donnelly), an Irish-born musical theatre performer - [Aldrich Killian](/source/Aldrich_Killian), supervillain and main antagonist of *[Iron Man 3](/source/Iron_Man_3)* - [Dan A. Killian](/source/Dan_A._Killian), American college sports coach - [Edwin Henry Killian](/source/Ed_Killian) (1876–1928), a Major League Baseball pitcher primarily of the Detroit Tigers - [Eugene H. Killian](/source/Eugene_H._Killian) (1873–1943), an American politician - [George E. Killian](/source/George_E._Killian), a sports administrator and the president of the International University Sports Federation - [Gustav Killian](/source/Gustav_Killian) (1860–1921), a German laryngologist for whom [Killian's dehiscence](/source/Killian's_dehiscence) is named - [James Rhyne Killian](/source/James_Rhyne_Killian) (1904–1988), the 10th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - [Jerry B. Killian](/source/Jerry_B._Killian), an officer in the Texas Air National Guard in the early 1970s, to whom Lieutenant George W. Bush was a subordinate - [Richard Killian](/source/Richard_Killian), an American businessman and politician - [Robert K. Killian](/source/Robert_K._Killian) (1919–2005), an American politician from the state of Connecticut - [Killian Scott](/source/Killian_Scott), an Irish actor - [Killian K. Van Rensselaer](/source/Killian_K._Van_Rensselaer) (1763–1845), member of the United States House of Representatives from New York - [Killian Peier](/source/Killian_Peier), Swiss ski jumper, 2019 World Championships medalist - [Killian Tillie](/source/Killian_Tillie) (born 1998), French basketball player - [Killian Hayes](/source/Killian_Hayes) (born 2001), American–French basketball player - [Killian Jones](/source/Killian_Jones), a character from the show Once Upon a Time, also known as Captain Hook ## Notable people named Kilian - [Saint Kilian](/source/Saint_Kilian), Irish missionary bishop and the apostle of Franconia - [Kilian Elkinson](/source/Kilian_Elkinson) (born 1990), Bermudian footballer - [Kílian Jornet](/source/K%C3%ADlian_Jornet) (born 1987), a Spanish ski mountaineer, long-distance runner, mountain biker and duathlete - [Kilian Zierer](/source/Kilian_Zierer) (born 2000), German-born American football player - [André Kilian](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Kilian), German-born footballer playing for North Queensland Fury - [Caleb Kilian](/source/Caleb_Kilian) (born 1997), American baseball player - [Crawford Kilian](/source/Crawford_Kilian), Canadian novelist and a college professor - [Günter Kilian](/source/G%C3%BCnter_Kilian) (1950–2026), German water polo player - [Hanns Kilian](/source/Hanns_Kilian) (1905–1981), German bobsledder who competed from the late 1920s to the late 1930 - [Horst Kilian](/source/Horst_Kilian) (born 1950), German water polo player, twin brother of Günter - [Inge Kilian](/source/Inge_Kilian) (born 1935), German high jumper - [John Kilian](/source/John_Kilian) (1811–1884), Lutheran pastor and leader of the colony known as the Wends of Texas - [Michael Kilian](/source/Michael_Kilian) (1939–2005), author and journalist primarily for the Chicago Tribune in Washington, D.C - [Victor Kilian](/source/Victor_Kilian) (1891–1979), American actor blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio in the 1950s - [Wiesław Kilian](/source/Wies%C5%82aw_Kilian) (1952–2019), Polish politician ## Notable people named Kylian - [Kylian Hazard](/source/Kylian_Hazard), Belgian footballer - [Kylian Mash](/source/Kylian_Mash) (born 1983), French DJ and record producer - [Kylian Mbappé](/source/Kylian_Mbapp%C3%A9), French footballer ## Notable people named Killion - [John Joseph Killion](/source/Jake_Kilrain) (1859–1937), known as Jake Kilrain, famous bare knuckle fighter and glove boxer of the 1880s - [Kyle Killion](/source/Kyle_Killion), American football linebacker - [Redley A. Killion](/source/Redley_A._Killion), Micronesian politician - [Sean Killion](/source/Sean_Killion), American swimmer - [Tom Killion](/source/Tom_Killion), American politician from Pennsylvania ## References 1. Hanks, Patrick; Hodges, Flavia (1990), *A Dictionary of First Names*, Oxford University Press, p. 193 1. ["GENUKI: Tuosist"](http://homepage.eircom.net/~dinglemaps/genuki/KER/Tuosist/). *homepage.eircom.net* 1. Patrick Weston Joyce (1869). [*The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places, Volume 1*](https://books.google.com/books?id=J-Q9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA290). Retrieved 31 January 2016. 1. Patrick Woulfe (1923). ["Cillian"](http://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/cillian-killian.php). *Irish Names and Surnames*. Retrieved 28 July 2011. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Killian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.