Head to head · Girls' names
Harper vs Lily
#16 vs #18 in 2025
Harper is a whisker ahead (#16 vs #18 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Harper is stepping back from its peak, Lily is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Lily has the edge.
Cast your vote2 votes
Which one would you pick?
2 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Harper and Lily each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Harper —, Lily #236 — Lily higher
- 1890s: Harper —, Lily #280 — Lily higher
- 1900s: Harper —, Lily #326 — Lily higher
- 1910s: Harper —, Lily #325 — Lily higher
- 1920s: Harper —, Lily #345 — Lily higher
- 1930s: Harper —, Lily #444 — Lily higher
- 1940s: Harper —, Lily #632 — Lily higher
- 1950s: Harper —, Lily #797 — Lily higher
- 1960s: Harper —, Lily #989 — Lily higher
- 1970s: Harper #7155, Lily #1032 — Lily higher
- 1980s: Harper #8013, Lily #692 — Lily higher
- 1990s: Harper #3266, Lily #352 — Lily higher
- 2000s: Harper #791, Lily #57 — Lily higher
- 2010s: Harper #28, Lily #25 — Lily higher
- 2020s: Harper #12, Lily #26 — Harper higher
Lily stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Harper took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Harper | Lily |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #236 |
| 1890s | — | #280 |
| 1900s | — | #326 |
| 1910s | — | #325 |
| 1920s | — | #345 |
| 1930s | — | #444 |
| 1940s | — | #632 |
| 1950s | — | #797 |
| 1960s | — | #989 |
| 1970s | #7155 | #1032 |
| 1980s | #8013 | #692 |
| 1990s | #3266 | #352 |
| 2000s | #791 | #57 |
| 2010s | #28 | #25 |
| 2020s | #12 | #26 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Harper
- England & Wales#22
- Scotland#23
- Canada#35
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
Harper
Harp player
From Old English hearpere, 'one who plays the harp' — an occupational surname, like Baker or Miller, formed from the name of the trade.
hearpe (Old English 'harp') → hearpere ('harp player') → le Harpere (medieval surname) → Harper (surname) → Harper (given name)
How it traveled
The word behind it is Old English hearpe, 'harp', and hearpere, the man who played one. Harpers were kept by noble and royal households in medieval England and Scotland, and by the later Middle Ages the occupation had become a hereditary surname, recorded in forms such as le Harpere.
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
Harper
HAR-per
Two syllables, stress on the first, exactly as the English surname. In non-rhotic accents such as much of England, both r sounds soften, giving something closer to HAH-puh.
- Harp — The main informal shortening, used within families rather than as a name on its own.
- Harps — Casual, playground- and teammate-style; not used formally.
- Harper — In practice most bearers go by the full name — it is short enough to survive intact in daily use.
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
Harper
Harper Lee (b. 1926) — Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, one of America's most beloved novels
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 Harper if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsHarper is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalHarper entered the US charts in 1971
Choose Lily if you want…
- a name on the way upup 17 places on the charts in five years
- a name that charts abroad tooLily is on the national lists of England & Wales, Scotland, Canada and France
- a long American recordLily was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Harper
Strengths
- A spelling nearly everyone already knows from the surname, so it rarely needs to be repeated or corrected.
- A documented meaning that is not in dispute: the harp player, from Old English.
- Established in the United States, Canada, England and Wales, and Scotland alike, so it travels well in English-speaking countries.
To consider
- Its wave is very recent, so nearly all Harpers are children. Adult bearers are few, which some parents like and others find untested.
- It is also given to boys, through the same surname, though US records are now overwhelmingly female — a boy named Harper will often be assumed to be a girl on paper.
- It resists shortening. Beyond Harp, there is no traditional nickname, so what you name is what will be used.
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
Harper
83%chance Harper feels dated by 2040
Harper is coming down from a big peak (#9 in 2018). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Harper 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 Harper and Lily?
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
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Harper and Lily — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Harper or Lily — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Harper or Lily?
- Harper, in 2025: Harper ranked #16 with 6,792 babies; Lily ranked #18 with 6,673 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Harper or Lily?
- Lily. Over the last five years Harper moved down 6 places; Lily moved up 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Harper or Lily?
- Harper entered the US charts in 1971; Lily was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Lily is the older name.
- How many people are named Harper and Lily?
- About 138,000 people named Harper 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 Harpers or Lilys in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Harper. 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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