Head to head · Girls' names
Elizabeth vs Lily
#17 vs #18 in 2025
Elizabeth is a whisker ahead (#17 vs #18 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elizabeth is holding its place on the charts, Lily is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Lily has the edge.
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Which one would you pick?
3 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Elizabeth leads 4 measures of 6; Lily leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Elizabeth #4, Lily #236 — Elizabeth higher
- 1890s: Elizabeth #5, Lily #280 — Elizabeth higher
- 1900s: Elizabeth #6, Lily #326 — Elizabeth higher
- 1910s: Elizabeth #8, Lily #325 — Elizabeth higher
- 1920s: Elizabeth #11, Lily #345 — Elizabeth higher
- 1930s: Elizabeth #17, Lily #444 — Elizabeth higher
- 1940s: Elizabeth #24, Lily #632 — Elizabeth higher
- 1950s: Elizabeth #22, Lily #797 — Elizabeth higher
- 1960s: Elizabeth #17, Lily #989 — Elizabeth higher
- 1970s: Elizabeth #15, Lily #1032 — Elizabeth higher
- 1980s: Elizabeth #10, Lily #692 — Elizabeth higher
- 1990s: Elizabeth #9, Lily #352 — Elizabeth higher
- 2000s: Elizabeth #10, Lily #57 — Elizabeth higher
- 2010s: Elizabeth #12, Lily #25 — Elizabeth higher
- 2020s: Elizabeth #16, Lily #26 — Elizabeth higher
Elizabeth stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elizabeth | Lily |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #4 | #236 |
| 1890s | #5 | #280 |
| 1900s | #6 | #326 |
| 1910s | #8 | #325 |
| 1920s | #11 | #345 |
| 1930s | #17 | #444 |
| 1940s | #24 | #632 |
| 1950s | #22 | #797 |
| 1960s | #17 | #989 |
| 1970s | #15 | #1032 |
| 1980s | #10 | #692 |
| 1990s | #9 | #352 |
| 2000s | #10 | #57 |
| 2010s | #12 | #25 |
| 2020s | #16 | #26 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elizabeth
- Canada#23
- England & Wales#62
Lily
- England & Wales#3
- Scotland#8
- Canada#9
- France#70
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Elizabeth
my God is an oath
Hebrew Elisheva: el, God, with sheva. Because the word means both an oath and seven, the name is read as my God is an oath and, less often, as my God is abundance. The Beersheba story shows the ambiguity working in the text itself rather than only in the dictionary.
Elisheva → Elisabet → Elizabeth
How it traveled
Elisheva is Aaron's wife in Exodus, named in a single verse. The name reappears in Luke as the mother of John the Baptist, an old woman told she will have a child, and the scene where Mary visits her is one of the few in the Gospels where two women talk to each other.
Lily
The lily flower, from Latin lilium
The Latin lilium reached English as the flower name lily, and the given name comes directly from it. Lily also works as a short form of Lilian, Lillian and Liliana, so some bearers arrive at it from that side rather than from the flower.
Lilium → Lilie → Lilian → Lily
How it traveled
The flower word came into English from Latin lilium, itself connected to Greek leirion, and for centuries it was a plant, not a person. The lily carried heavy symbolic freight in medieval and Renaissance Europe — the white Madonna lily of Christian art, the stylized fleur-de-lis of the French crown — which kept the word in constant view.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Elizabeth
ih-LIZ-uh-beth
Four syllables, stress on the second. The th at the end is a sound most of the world's languages do not have, which is why every other European version of the name changed it.
- Liz — The commonest American clip; plain, adult and used at work.
- Beth — The quieter option, and a full name in its own right.
- Libby — From a small child's attempt at the whole word; now given alone as well.
- Eliza — A full name of its own since the seventeenth century.
- Also Betty, Elsie.
Lily
LIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable. The pronunciation is the same in American and British English, and speakers of most languages manage it without instruction.
- Lil — The long-established informal short form, used within families and among friends.
- Lils — A casual modern shortening, mostly used by peers rather than adults.
- Lily — Stands fully on its own as a given name, and also serves as the standard short form of Lilian, Lillian and Liliana.
Who has carried each name
Elizabeth
Elizabeth II (b. 1926) — Britain's longest-reigning monarch — 70 years on the throne
Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533) — Queen of England's Golden Age, the era of Shakespeare
Elizabeth Taylor (b. 1932) — Violet-eyed Hollywood legend with two Oscars — and Cleopatra
Lily
Lily Collins (b. 1989) — Star of Emily in Paris, daughter of Phil Collins
Lily Tomlin (b. 1939) — Comedy trailblazer with Tonys, Emmys, and a Grammy
Lily James (b. 1989) — Played Cinderella in Disney's live-action remake
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elizabeth if you want…
- a name holding steadyElizabeth is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itElizabeth runs 4 syllables, Lily 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Liz, Beth and Libby
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 67% for Lily
Choose Lily if you want…
- a name on the way upup 17 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesLily is 2 syllables to Elizabeth's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooLily is on the national lists of England & Wales, Scotland, Canada and France
- a name that feels very nowLily is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Elizabeth
Strengths
- More short forms than any other name in English, at every possible register.
- Recognized in every European language, usually without translation.
- A documented Hebrew meaning and continuous use for more than two thousand years.
To consider
- It is one of the most given names in the English-speaking world and always has been.
- The short forms are so numerous that a child may end up called several things at once.
- It is nine letters and four syllables on every form she will ever fill in.
Lily
Strengths
- Needs no spelling out in the English-speaking world: the flower is the word, so most people write it correctly on the first hearing.
- Recognized across borders — it charts in Britain, Scotland, Canada and France, and has close cousins in Italian, Russian and Scandinavian.
- Two short syllables that a toddler can pronounce, and that survive being shouted across a playground.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Lilly and Lillie, and with Lila, Lilah and Lyla nearby in sound. Expect the occasional correction, and expect similar names in the same room.
- It has been climbing steadily rather than fading, so a Lily is likely to meet other girls with the same name or a near-match at some point.
- The short form Lil is also a familiar prefix in hip-hop stage names, which some children find funny for a while.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Elizabeth
12%chance Elizabeth feels dated by 2040
Elizabeth has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Lily
67%chance Lily feels dated by 2040
Lily is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Elizabeth and Lily in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Elizabeth and Lily?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Elizabeth and Lily — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elizabeth or Lily — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elizabeth or Lily?
- Elizabeth, in 2025: Elizabeth ranked #17 with 6,760 babies; Lily ranked #18 with 6,673 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elizabeth or Lily?
- Lily. Over the last five years Elizabeth moved down 1 place; Lily moved up 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Elizabeth or Lily?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Elizabeth and Lily?
- About 1,160,000 people named Elizabeth are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 177,000 people named Lily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elizabeths or Lilys in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Elizabeth. Roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Lily.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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