Why Gilligan's First Name In Gilligan's Island Was Completely Scrapped From The Show
Watching "Gilligan's Island" reruns as a child always had this author wondering if "Gilligan" was the character's first name or last name. Gilligan, as played hilariously by Bob Denver, was the main character of the series, but also its buffoonish comic relief. He was most countered by his straight man, the Skipper (Alan Hale) or Professor Roy Hinckley (Russell Johnson), but he served as a foil for every character. Denver doesn't get enough credit for his pliability as a comic performer. Denver passed away in 2005 at the age of 70, best known for "Gilligan's Island" and for the 1959 sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." He was also a regular on the Sherwood Schwartz series "Dusty's Trail" as well as the 1968 series "The Good Guys."
On "Gilligan's Island," many fans wondered what Gilligan's full name was. It seems that, at the end of the day, he's like Cher or Fabian, sporting only one name. In my headcanon, Gilligan is his first name and he dropped his family name after his father was arrested for committing some horrible atrocity. It seems, however, that "Gilligan" was once clarified as the character's last name in early series Bibles. In those early days of development, the character was to be called Willy Gilligan.
"Willy Gilligan" was confirmed by Denver himself on his professional web page. He clarified all of the characters' full names, which had been seen on the series. "Willy Gilligan," however, was never in a script, and was never spoken aloud in any rendition of "Gilligan's Island." Evidently "Willy" was Schwartz's idea, but Denver liked the single name better. Willy was cut free.
This was such a mystery, however, that Snopes — the famed fact-checking website — got involved.
The Snopes investigation
According to Snopes, "Willy" was not Gilligan's first name, as there were no canonical confirmations.
Some confusion about the canonical nature of Gilligan's first name came when TV Guide published a particular article in 1992. To celebrate the first-ever airing of the original unaired "Gilligan's Island" pilot (on TBS), TV Guide published a list of trivia about the episode noting that in it, Gilligan's first name was spoken aloud as Willy. By the magazine's description, the characters, after they were shipwrecked on an uncharted desert island, managed to listen to a rogue radio signal about their shipwreck, and in that broadcast, each of them — missing persons at that point — heard their full names. Gilligan was called "Willy Gilligan."
Firstly, one can easily argue that the unaired pilot is not canonical. It was filmed before Tina Louise (Ginger), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), and Russell Johnson (the Professor) had joined the cast, and when Mary Ann was a completely different character named Bunny. The original Ginger was a different character as well, initially being a secretary instead of a movie star.
Secondly, and more importantly, TV Guide's trivia is incorrect. The in-episode radio broadcast doesn't call Gilligan "Willy." According to Snopes, the pilot merely called him the "young first mate named Gilligan." The only instances of the name "Willy Gilligan" came in early pitch packets that Sherwood Schwartz had put together. Snopes even has a picture of "Willy Gilligan" in print. One can easily argue that hardly counts. Snopes also noted that Schwartz himself removed "Willy" as a first name, preferring the characters to be more casually addressed by first names or nicknames (the Howells being the exception). Gilligan became the character's first name in the cited conversations.
Gilligan is just Gilligan. And that's Gillig-enough.