Head to head · Girls' names
Lilly vs Lucille
#252 vs #237 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Lucille is a whisker ahead (#237 vs #252 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. 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, Lucille leads 5 measures of 6; Lilly 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: Lilly #216, Lucille #188 — Lucille higher
- 1890s: Lilly #260, Lucille #105 — Lucille higher
- 1900s: Lilly #288, Lucille #52 — Lucille higher
- 1910s: Lilly #354, Lucille #30 — Lucille higher
- 1920s: Lilly #392, Lucille #40 — Lucille higher
- 1930s: Lilly #461, Lucille #84 — Lucille higher
- 1940s: Lilly #612, Lucille #134 — Lucille higher
- 1950s: Lilly #801, Lucille #246 — Lucille higher
- 1960s: Lilly #1018, Lucille #476 — Lucille higher
- 1970s: Lilly #1610, Lucille #988 — Lucille higher
- 1980s: Lilly #1705, Lucille #1288 — Lucille higher
- 1990s: Lilly #1043, Lucille #1396 — Lilly higher
- 2000s: Lilly #233, Lucille #871 — Lilly higher
- 2010s: Lilly #135, Lucille #345 — Lilly higher
- 2020s: Lilly #241, Lucille #271 — Lilly higher
Lucille stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Lilly has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Lilly | Lucille |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #216 | #188 |
| 1890s | #260 | #105 |
| 1900s | #288 | #52 |
| 1910s | #354 | #30 |
| 1920s | #392 | #40 |
| 1930s | #461 | #84 |
| 1940s | #612 | #134 |
| 1950s | #801 | #246 |
| 1960s | #1018 | #476 |
| 1970s | #1610 | #988 |
| 1980s | #1705 | #1288 |
| 1990s | #1043 | #1396 |
| 2000s | #233 | #871 |
| 2010s | #135 | #345 |
| 2020s | #241 | #271 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Lilly
- Scotland#83
Lucille
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Lilly
The lily flower
The word reached English as Latin lilium, which the Romans took from Greek leirion. Lilly also works as a short form of Elizabeth and of Lillian, so a child called Lilly may be arriving by either road — the flower or the abbreviation.
leirion → lilium → lilie → Lily → Lilly
How it traveled
The lily was a name for the flower in English long before it was a name for a person: Old English took lilie straight from Latin lilium. As a personal name it grew from two directions at once — as an affectionate clipping of Elizabeth and Lillian, in use for centuries, and as one of the flower names English speakers adopted with real enthusiasm in the nineteenth century, alongside Rose, Violet and Daisy.
Lucille
light
The Latin lux, light, is behind the whole family, and the reading is settled. Lucille is the French diminutive form that English borrowed whole.
Lucius → Lucia → Lucille
How it traveled
Lucy is the patron saint of the blind and of eye trouble, and her feast falls in mid-December, which under the old calendar was the shortest day; Scandinavian countries still mark it with candles and processions at the darkest point of the year. The connection to light is in the name itself rather than in anything she did, and the association with eyes appears to have grown out of that.
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
Lilly
LIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable. Lilly, Lily and Lillie all sound identical, so the spelling is the only thing that distinguishes them out loud.
- Lil — The standard informal clip, used within families and among friends; rarely a legal name on its own.
- Lils — Casual, mostly peer-to-peer and in text messages.
- Lilly-Bee — A household-only compound of the kind the L sound invites; not used outside the family.
- Lillian — Works in reverse — some families register the long form and use Lilly every day.
Lucille
loo-SEEL
Two syllables with the weight on the second. LOO-seel, with the stress in front, is heard in some American families.
- Lucy — A near relation used as a short form; a full name in its own right.
- Cille — The back of the name used alone; heard in southern American families.
Who has carried each name
Lilly
No documented entry for Lilly yet.
Lucille
Lucille Ball (b. 1911) — I Love Lucy legend, first woman to run a major TV studio
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 Lilly if you want…
- a name fewer children share#252 in 2025 — lilly will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyLilly is holding its place on the charts
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Lil, Lils and Lilly-Bee
- a name that charts abroad tooLilly is on the national lists of Scotland
Choose Lucille if you want…
- a name most people already know#237 in 2025, 1,314 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 37 places on the charts in five years
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
Lilly
Strengths
- Instantly readable and instantly pronounceable in English — nobody has to be taught how to say it.
- A long unbroken record on US charts, without ever having been the name everyone in the room had.
- Recognized across German, Scandinavian and other European naming traditions in almost this exact form.
To consider
- Lily is the more familiar spelling in the US, so Lilly will be written the other way on forms, name tags and greetings fairly often. Most families settle into correcting it once and letting the rest go.
- The sound is more common than this particular spelling. Lila, Lilah, Lillian and Lily all circulate, so a Lilly may share a playground with near-twins even while being the only Lilly.
- Lilly is also a well-known American surname and pharmaceutical company name, which occasionally comes up in adult professional settings — a passing remark rather than a real obstacle.
Lucille
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and can be given in one word.
- Lucy is available as a short form and is a complete name on its own.
- It works in English, French, Spanish and Italian households with only a shift of stress.
To consider
- In America it reads as belonging to an older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- One television comedian has owned the name in American minds for seventy years.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Lilly
40%chance Lilly feels dated by 2040
Lilly 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.
Lucille
25%chance Lucille feels dated by 2040
Lucille 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 Lilly and Lucille 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 Lilly and Lucille?
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
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Names ending in -y
- Greatest Generation names (born 1901–1927)
- Seven-letter names, ranked by real use
- all guides
Where Lilly and Lucille each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Lilly or Lucille — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Lilly or Lucille?
- Lucille, in 2025: Lucille ranked #237 with 1,314 babies; Lilly ranked #252 with 1,218 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Lilly or Lucille?
- Lucille. Over the last five years Lilly moved down 23 places; Lucille moved up 37 places.
- Which is the older name, Lilly or Lucille?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Lilly and Lucille?
- About 55,500 people named Lilly are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 60,000 people named Lucille are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lillys or Lucilles in the classroom?
- Lilly will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lucille 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 Lilly, Lucille and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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