Head to head · Girls' names
Lilliana vs London
#445 vs #431 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
London is a whisker ahead (#431 vs #445 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, London leads 4 measures of 6; Lilliana 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
- 1950s: Lilliana #5180, London — — Lilliana higher
- 1960s: Lilliana #5139, London #4711 — London higher
- 1970s: Lilliana #3276, London #4114 — Lilliana higher
- 1980s: Lilliana #2324, London #2946 — Lilliana higher
- 1990s: Lilliana #1792, London #1132 — London higher
- 2000s: Lilliana #628, London #541 — London higher
- 2010s: Lilliana #293, London #121 — London higher
- 2020s: Lilliana #385, London #301 — London higher
London stood higher in 5 of 8 decades; London has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Lilliana | London |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | #5180 | — |
| 1960s | #5139 | #4711 |
| 1970s | #3276 | #4114 |
| 1980s | #2324 | #2946 |
| 1990s | #1792 | #1132 |
| 2000s | #628 | #541 |
| 2010s | #293 | #121 |
| 2020s | #385 | #301 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Lilliana
lily
The root is Latin lilium, the lily. A second strand feeds the same cluster: Lilian began in medieval England as a pet form of Elizabeth before it was read as a flower name, and Liliana is usually treated as its Latinate elaboration.
lilium → Lilia → Lilian → Liliana → Lilliana
How it traveled
The lily gave Europe a whole family of names: Latin lilium became Italian and Spanish lilia and English lily, a flower carried through medieval and Renaissance Christian art as an emblem of purity. Lilian appeared in England as an affectionate form of Elizabeth, and by the time flower names came into fashion it was heard simply as the lily.
London
From the city of London; the city name's own meaning is not settled
Londinium is the oldest recorded form, and it is pre-Roman rather than Latin in origin. The reading with the most scholarly support today, argued by the place-name specialist Richard Coates, traces it to a Brittonic river name meaning something like 'the flowing one' or 'river too wide to ford.' Older explanations tried to find a personal name or a word for a hill fort in it. None has won the argument outright.
Londinium → Lundenwic → Lunden → London
How it traveled
The name begins as a settlement the Romans established on the Thames and called Londinium; the word itself is older than their arrival and its sense was already obscure by then. Through the Anglo-Saxon centuries it moved through Lundenwic and Lunden before settling into the spelling used now.
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
Lilliana
lil-ee-AH-nuh
Four syllables, stress on the third. Some American families say lil-ee-AN-uh, with the flatter middle vowel of Lillian; both are in ordinary use and neither needs correcting.
- Lily — The most common short form, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Lilly — Informal, matching the double l of the full spelling; also used as a standalone name.
- Lili — Informal; the usual short form in Italian and Spanish-speaking families.
- Ana — Takes the second half instead of the first; a full given name across Spanish and Portuguese.
- Also Lia, Lil.
London
LUN-dun
Stress on the first syllable. The o's both sound like the u in 'sun' — the spelling looks nothing like the sound, but the city has taught the whole English-speaking world how to say it.
- Lo — The most common informal short form, used at home and among friends.
- Lon — Informal clipping; also an independent given name in its own right, mostly among older generations of men.
- Lonnie — Casual diminutive; stands alone as a given name too, where it usually comes from Alonzo rather than London.
- Donnie — An affectionate family-made form drawn from the second syllable rather than the first; heard rarely and only informally.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Lilliana if you want…
- a name fewer children share#445 in 2025 — lilliana will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itLilliana runs 4 syllables, London 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Lily, Lilly and Lili
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 68% for London
Choose London if you want…
- a name most people already know#431 in 2025, 719 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsLondon is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesLondon is 2 syllables to Lilliana's 4
- a name that feels very nowLondon is stepping back from its peak
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
Lilliana
Strengths
- Every part of the spelling is already familiar in English — Lillian and Ana — so most people can read it aloud on first sight.
- Comes with several ready-made short forms, and Lily, Lilly and Ana each stand alone as complete names.
- The Liliana form is current in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, so it travels without needing translation.
To consider
- Liliana, Lilianna, Lillianna and Lilliana all exist and all sound alike, so this exact spelling will need saying out loud fairly often — and the four-syllable length means a good deal of it gets written on forms.
- The exact spelling is uncommon, but the sound is not: a classroom may well hold a Lily, a Lila or a Liliana, so the name may be shared by ear even when it is not shared on paper.
- Its rise in the United States is recent, so the name currently belongs mostly to children and young people rather than to adults — something that simply changes as those children grow.
London
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are already known to almost everyone who reads English — no repeating, no correcting at the pharmacy counter.
- Recognizable in most languages, since the city carries its own name into French, Spanish, Italian and beyond.
- Works for a girl or a boy on the same spelling, with no change in form.
To consider
- Landon is a well-established boys' name that sits one vowel away, and the two get swapped in writing and in hearing. Expect to spell it out on forms more than the name's fame would suggest.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, so a boy named London will sometimes be assumed female on a roster or an email — usually a one-time correction, but a recurring one.
- It is unmistakably a place, and a famous one. Some people will ask about a family connection or make the 'London Bridge' joke; others will simply hear a name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Lilliana
40%chance Lilliana feels dated by 2040
Lilliana 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.
London
68%chance London feels dated by 2040
London is coming down from a big peak (#85 in 2013). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Lilliana and London 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 Lilliana and London?
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 these names appear on
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- all guides
Where Lilliana and London each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Lilliana or London — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Lilliana or London?
- London, in 2025: London ranked #431 with 719 babies; Lilliana ranked #445 with 695 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Lilliana or London?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Lilliana moved down 102 places; London moved down 238 places.
- Which is the older name, Lilliana or London?
- Lilliana entered the US charts in 1955; London entered the US charts in 1963. On the American record, Lilliana is the older name.
- How many people are named Lilliana and London?
- About 22,500 people named Lilliana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 44,000 people named London are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lillianas or Londons in the classroom?
- Lilliana will almost certainly be the only one in school. London will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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