Head to head · Girls' names
Lilith vs Lola
#277 vs #275 in 2025
Lola is a whisker ahead (#275 vs #277 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Lola is stepping back from its peak, Lilith is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Lilith has the edge.
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, Lola leads 5 measures of 6; Lilith 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: Lilith —, Lola #124 — Lola higher
- 1890s: Lilith —, Lola #113 — Lola higher
- 1900s: Lilith —, Lola #108 — Lola higher
- 1910s: Lilith #3826, Lola #136 — Lola higher
- 1920s: Lilith #3817, Lola #159 — Lola higher
- 1930s: Lilith #3055, Lola #179 — Lola higher
- 1940s: Lilith #4622, Lola #253 — Lola higher
- 1950s: Lilith —, Lola #375 — Lola higher
- 1960s: Lilith #5745, Lola #599 — Lola higher
- 1970s: Lilith #7201, Lola #870 — Lola higher
- 1980s: Lilith #10668, Lola #1545 — Lola higher
- 1990s: Lilith #6329, Lola #2553 — Lola higher
- 2000s: Lilith #1588, Lola #573 — Lola higher
- 2010s: Lilith #672, Lola #231 — Lola higher
- 2020s: Lilith #270, Lola #261 — Lola higher
Lola stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Lilith | Lola |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #124 |
| 1890s | — | #113 |
| 1900s | — | #108 |
| 1910s | #3826 | #136 |
| 1920s | #3817 | #159 |
| 1930s | #3055 | #179 |
| 1940s | #4622 | #253 |
| 1950s | — | #375 |
| 1960s | #5745 | #599 |
| 1970s | #7201 | #870 |
| 1980s | #10668 | #1545 |
| 1990s | #6329 | #2553 |
| 2000s | #1588 | #573 |
| 2010s | #672 | #231 |
| 2020s | #270 | #261 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Lilith
Not charting outside the US.
Lola
- France#53
- England & Wales#87
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Lilith
linked to "night" or to "wind, air spirit"
The traditional reading ties Lilith to Hebrew *layil*, "night" — the reading behind translations like "night creature" in Isaiah 34:14. Semitic scholars more often trace it to Akkadian *lilītu*, a class of spirit, and beyond that to a Sumerian word for wind or air. Both readings are seriously held; the "night" connection may well be an ancient folk etymology that stuck.
lilītu (Akkadian) → Lilit (Hebrew) → Lilith (Greek and Latin biblical texts) → Lilith (English)
How it traveled
The oldest layer is Mesopotamian: *lilītu* and related figures appear in Akkadian and Sumerian incantations as spirits of the air, invoked to be warded off. The Hebrew *lilit* surfaces once in the Book of Isaiah, in a list of creatures inhabiting a ruined place, and again in the Babylonian Talmud.
Lola
short form of Dolores, "sorrows"
Dolores comes from the Spanish title María de los Dolores, Mary of the Sorrows, referring to the Virgin's Seven Sorrows. Lola is the household diminutive of that name; the sorrowful sense belongs to the devotional title, not to everyday use of Lola.
María de los Dolores → Dolores → Lola → Lolita
How it traveled
The name grew out of Spanish Catholic devotion: girls were named María de los Dolores for the Virgin's Sorrows, and Dolores was clipped in family speech to Lola, with Lolita as a further step down. By the nineteenth century Lola was circulating well beyond Spanish-speaking households, carried by stage performers and travelers into English, French and German use.
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
Lilith
LIL-ith
Stress on the first syllable, which rhymes with "fill." The final -th is soft, as in "with." Armenian and Hebrew speakers say Lilit, with the stress on the second syllable and no -th sound.
- Lily — The most common everyday short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right, and much more widely used that way.
- Lil — Informal, family-and-friends level; not usually written down.
- Lili — Informal; also a standalone given name in French, German and Hungarian.
- Lilu — Affectionate, invented-at-home variety rather than an established form.
Lola
LOH-luh
Stress on the first syllable. In Spanish and French both vowels are fuller: LOH-lah. Spelling almost never needs to be repeated.
- Lo — The commonest informal trim, used within families rather than on paper.
- Lolo — Playful doubling used mostly with young children; note it means grandfather in Tagalog.
- Lolita — The traditional Spanish diminutive of Lola; now carries the association with Nabokov's novel in English.
- Lols — A casual British-style trim, mostly among peers and in texting.
- Also Dolores.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Lilith if you want…
- a name on the way upup 39 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalLilith entered the US charts in 1913
Choose Lola if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsLola is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooLola is on the national lists of France and England & Wales
- a long American recordLola 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
Lilith
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and short enough that most people get it right on the first hearing.
- One of the longest documented records of any name on this page — Mesopotamian incantations, the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, medieval texts, nineteenth-century painting and poetry.
- Lily and Lil are ready-made short forms already in wide use, so the everyday version needs no explaining.
To consider
- The strongest association is with a demon and with Adam's rebellious first wife. Many people find that history the best part of the name; some religious relatives will find it the reason to object. Worth knowing which conversation you are walking into.
- Lily is so much more common that a Lilith who goes by Lily will often be assumed to be a Lily, and will spend some time correcting the record on paper.
- The bearers alive today are overwhelmingly young children, so for now the name reads as new to most adults even though the record behind it is ancient.
Lola
Strengths
- Four letters, one obvious spelling, and it is read correctly on sight by English, Spanish and French speakers alike.
- An unbroken record in American use stretching back well over a century, so it reads as inherited rather than newly coined.
- Also charts in France and in England & Wales, which makes it travel well.
To consider
- In Tagalog, lola means grandmother — a warm word, but if your family or community is Filipino, expect that double meaning to come up often.
- The traditional diminutive Lolita now carries the association with Nabokov's novel in English, which is worth knowing before it arrives from someone else's mouth.
- It is already a nickname, so there is not much left to shorten. Some parents like the finality of that; others miss having a longer version to grow into.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Lilith
40%chance Lilith feels dated by 2040
Lilith sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Lola
25%chance Lola feels dated by 2040
Lola peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
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 Lilith and Lola in full.
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Decide together
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Gothic names with candlelit edges
- Halloween names for an October baby
- Names ending in -th
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- all guides
Where Lilith and Lola each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Lilith or Lola — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Lilith or Lola?
- Lola, in 2025: Lola ranked #275 with 1,132 babies; Lilith ranked #277 with 1,111 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Lilith or Lola?
- Lilith. Over the last five years Lilith moved up 39 places; Lola moved down 39 places.
- Which is the older name, Lilith or Lola?
- Lilith entered the US charts in 1913; Lola was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Lola is the older name.
- How many people are named Lilith and Lola?
- About 13,500 people named Lilith are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 46,500 people named Lola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Liliths or Lolas in the classroom?
- Lilith will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lola 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
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