Head to head · Girls' names
Hannah vs Lillian
#56 vs #57 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Hannah is a whisker ahead (#56 vs #57 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Hannah leads 4 measures of 6; Lillian leads 0.
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: Hannah #111, Lillian #27 — Lillian higher
- 1890s: Hannah #144, Lillian #15 — Lillian higher
- 1900s: Hannah #191, Lillian #12 — Lillian higher
- 1910s: Hannah #251, Lillian #15 — Lillian higher
- 1920s: Hannah #346, Lillian #26 — Lillian higher
- 1930s: Hannah #450, Lillian #66 — Lillian higher
- 1940s: Hannah #574, Lillian #124 — Lillian higher
- 1950s: Hannah #796, Lillian #192 — Lillian higher
- 1960s: Hannah #887, Lillian #273 — Lillian higher
- 1970s: Hannah #502, Lillian #408 — Lillian higher
- 1980s: Hannah #120, Lillian #417 — Hannah higher
- 1990s: Hannah #15, Lillian #279 — Hannah higher
- 2000s: Hannah #8, Lillian #65 — Hannah higher
- 2010s: Hannah #28, Lillian #27 — Lillian higher
- 2020s: Hannah #48, Lillian #52 — Hannah higher
Lillian stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Hannah took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hannah | Lillian |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #111 | #27 |
| 1890s | #144 | #15 |
| 1900s | #191 | #12 |
| 1910s | #251 | #15 |
| 1920s | #346 | #26 |
| 1930s | #450 | #66 |
| 1940s | #574 | #124 |
| 1950s | #796 | #192 |
| 1960s | #887 | #273 |
| 1970s | #502 | #408 |
| 1980s | #120 | #417 |
| 1990s | #15 | #279 |
| 2000s | #8 | #65 |
| 2010s | #28 | #27 |
| 2020s | #48 | #52 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Hannah
- Canada#29
- Scotland#64
Lillian
- Canada#96
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Hannah
favor, grace
From Hebrew hannah, from a root meaning to be gracious or to show favor. The same root lies behind John, Anne, Jane, Joanna and a dozen others, which makes this one of the most productive words in the entire European name stock.
Channah → Anna → Anne → Hannah
How it traveled
The name belongs first to a woman in the book of Samuel who prays at a shrine so intensely and so silently that the priest watching assumes she is drunk, and the song she sings afterwards is one of the oldest poems in the Hebrew Bible. Anne, Anna, Ann and Nan all descend from her.
Lillian
lily
The name is generally derived from the flower, though it may equally have begun as a pet form of Elizabeth that was later reinterpreted as a flower name. Both accounts have support. The flower's own name comes into English from Latin and further back from a Mediterranean source, and the reading is straightforward whichever route the personal name took.
A Mediterranean flower carried north by cultivation → The standard symbol of purity in European art → Lily and Lilian as English names → Lillian, with the consonant doubled, in heavy American use
How it traveled
The plant was cultivated in Crete four thousand years ago, appears on Minoan frescoes, was grown by the Romans, and traveled across Europe in monastery gardens because it was needed for religious painting and for medicine. By the medieval period it was the standard attribute of the Virgin and of a long list of saints, and any painter needing to signal purity reached for it.
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
Hannah
HAN-uh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The final h is silent in English and is there because Hebrew transliteration put it there; several European languages drop it without changing the sound.
- Hanna — The same name without the final h; used interchangeably in speech.
- Han — A single-syllable clip that has become common among younger bearers.
- Nan — An old English familiar form of the same name, cut from the back.
- Hannie — The affectionate form, standard in Dutch and used informally in English.
Lillian
LIL-ee-un
Three syllables, stress on the first. The doubled l does the English job of keeping the vowel before it short; with a single l the first syllable would run long and the name would be a different sound.
- Lily — The flower itself, and now a more fashionable name than the longer form.
- Lil — Flat and warm, and shared with a piece of current slang.
- Ann — The back read as a name, which is complete and has its own long history.
Who has carried each name
Hannah
Hannah Arendt (b. 1906) — Philosopher who coined "the banality of evil"
Hannah Waddingham (b. 1974) — Emmy winner as Ted Lasso's Rebecca
Lillian
Lillian Gish (b. 1893) — The "First Lady of American Cinema"
Lillian Gilbreth (b. 1878) — Pioneering engineer — and the real mom of Cheaper by the Dozen
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 Hannah if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesHannah is 2 syllables to Lillian's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooHannah is on the national lists of Canada and Scotland
- a name that feels very nowHannah is stepping back from its peak
Choose Lillian if you want…
- a name with more sound in itLillian runs 3 syllables, Hannah 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 85% for Hannah
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
Hannah
Strengths
- It is known everywhere in the Western world and needs no explanation in any of it.
- The meaning is documented and simple, which not every long-established name can claim.
- It reads identically forwards and backwards, which children notice and enjoy for years.
To consider
- Hanna without the final h is common enough that the spelling will be asked about often.
- It has been near the top of the American lists for a long time, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- It is recorded for sons as well, but so rarely that a boy carrying it would be explaining it constantly.
Lillian
Strengths
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- Lily is available inside it and is one of the most fashionable short names anywhere.
- It has been in continuous use for well over a century without ever sounding dated.
To consider
- Lilian with one l is the older spelling and both are standard.
- It is currently very popular again, which is a consideration in a classroom.
- The spelling is on the register for boys as well, in very small numbers.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Hannah
85%chance Hannah feels dated by 2040
Hannah is coming down from a big peak (#2 in 1998). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Lillian
12%chance Lillian feels dated by 2040
Lillian has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Hannah and Lillian 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 Hannah and Lillian?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
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 Hannah and Lillian — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hannah or Lillian — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hannah or Lillian?
- Hannah, in 2025: Hannah ranked #56 with 3,973 babies; Lillian ranked #57 with 3,966 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hannah or Lillian?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Hannah moved down 17 places; Lillian moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Hannah or Lillian?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Hannah and Lillian?
- About 441,000 people named Hannah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 209,000 people named Lillian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hannahs or Lillians in the classroom?
- Hannah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lillian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Hannah, Lillian and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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