Did you all see that Jonathan Crombie, the actor who played Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables, died this past week?
My heart breaks to hear this news! He brought Gil to life for me and a million others who love Anne, he was a true heartthrob. ❤
I love the nickname Gil, because of Gilbert Blythe, but Gilbert is not a name I’ve been able to warm up to. I’ve thought many times about ways to get to Gil without using Gilbert. Not so easy! I’ve come up with:
Gabriel
Gamaliel
A hard G name with an L middle name or a middle name that ends in -il, like … Gideon Louis or Gregory Emil or Gallagher Lee. (I’m particularly loving Gideon Louis nicked Gil — I love Gideon, but its lack of natural nicknames is hard!)
(Also Gilroy, but I’m not feeling Gilroy.)
What about all of you? How would you get to Gil, if you didn’t want to use Gilbert? Anyone else devastated by Jonathan Crombie’s death?
Sancta Nomina 
Such a coincidence as just re-listened to the audiobook of Anne of Green Gables this week. The novel is full of awesome names. I’ve never seen the movie.
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I love the books for sure, but the movie is where I really fell in love with the characters. I highly recommend it!
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I gots nobody that I can say for sure that they were called “Gil”, but I have identified some Gilberts – http://catholicsaints.info/name-gilbert/
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Ooh very cool! Thanks!!
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Your blog is the first place I heard the news, so sad! I was planning on rewatching the movies soon anyways, now it’ll be bittersweet!
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Aww yeah, I want to rewatch them too, it will be sad!!
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I am so sad to hear that! He really did just embody that character. I’ll watch it and pray for him!
I’m in the minority in that I actually do like Gilbert in full–mostly for Gil, but I get this classy-clunky-cool vibe from (some of) the -Bert names. If I had an important family connection I would totally use one.
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Huh, hearing it described as “classy-clunky-cool” makes it somehow more appealing!
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Classy-clunky-cool! Totally!!
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I’ve been so devastated all day, crying off and on. Just completely heartbroken.
Also I don’t care for the nickname Gil at all, but now might consider the name Gilbert in all its hideousness, just because Gilbert Blythe. You know, it takes some brave souls to just go for it with old names in order to resurrect them. I’m sure that’s how the current Ava & Sophia trends, and also Charlotte & Alice, came about.
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“In all its hideousness” haha!!! I mean, it’s not really my taste, but if I heard it on a little guy? I don’t think it would take much for me to like it, a lot. (My hubs and I watched Anne last night, oh Gil!)
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I also like the nickname Gil but don’t love Gilbert. I’ve a met a Gil short for Guilford.
But the name I really love that can be shortened to Gil is the Biblical Gilead!
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Oh yes, I love Gilead!!
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I’ve heard Gil for George.
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Really?? That’s pretty cool, I figured the J sound of George would knock a hard G nickname out of the running … cool to know someone does it!
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[…] I admit that the name I really loved the most was Gillon, because of my recent post about Gil/Gilbert Blythe. I say it “GILL-en in my head — does that seem right? I kind of love […]
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[…] nicknames is difficult (as you all know, I’m a big nicknamer) BUT (and I know this is crazy) when the actor that played Gilbert Blythe on Anne of Green Gables died, I started thinking about how much I love the nickname Gil, but don’t love the name Gilbert, and […]
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Aww just was going back through your posts and I saw this! I have sweet Gilbert named after Gilbert Blythe and G.K. Chesterton who was a Gilbert. Our Gilbert is called Gilbert, Gil, Gilly, Gil-Gil. He is still a baby, so he has many baby names:) but I think as he gets older he will be called both Gil and Gilbert. It wasn’t a name I really thought I would use in naming my kids but I really am so glad it won out bc it suits my little man perfectly:) I love my little old man name used on such a sweet lil baby;)
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So great that you have a Gilbert/Gil! And such great namesakes!
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[…] (2) Gideon I mentioned above that I was really interested in the style matches for Raphael, and when I saw Gideon listed as one, I was excited to include it here! Gideon was pretty badass in the bible — here is a lengthy discussion of him in a Catholic resource, but I love the more succinct entry from behindthename.com (a non-religious source): “Gideon is a hero and judge of the Old Testament. He led the vastly outnumbered Israelites against the Midianites, defeated them, and killed their two kings.” Definitely a warrior! I know Gideon might come across as a Protestant name due to the Gideon Bibles, which is why I included the Catholic link; I also know a Catholic boy named Gideon. But what’s a good nickname for Gideon? My favorite idea is Gil, which I think is just perfect! It would need a middle name with a strong L to make it work I think — something like Gideon Louis would be a great combo I think. I wrote more about Gil as a nickname here. […]
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