Lilburn
Masculine · “Lilla's stream”
Lilburn is an English place and surname put to work as a given name, which American families did constantly in the nineteenth century. The surname belongs to a man who was tried repeatedly for his opinions and turned one of those trials into a principle that ended up in the American constitution.
How old is the name Lilburn?
Lilburn first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Lilburn alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 100 people named Lilburn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lilburn most popular?
Lilburn peaked in 1886, reaching #845 nationally. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Lilleburne to Lilburn
The story of Lilburn
John Lilburne spent most of his adult life in court or in prison, usually for printing things. Hauled before the Star Chamber as a young man and ordered to swear an oath to answer whatever he was asked, he refused on the ground that no man should be made to accuse himself, was whipped through the streets for it and went on arguing from the pillory. He kept the position through every later trial, and because he printed the transcripts, the argument circulated widely. The Star Chamber was abolished and the oath with it; the principle was written into law in England and carried to the colonies, where it became the clause in the Fifth Amendment that Americans quote without knowing whose it was. He was a difficult man — one contemporary said that if he were left alone in the world, John would quarrel with Lilburne — and he was acquitted by juries who disliked the prosecutions more than they liked him.
Meaning
Lilla's stream
From a village in Northumberland: a personal name joined to the northern English word for a stream, which is the same element in a hundred other place names across the north and in Scotland. The surname was taken from the place, and the given name from the surname.
How the name formed
- Lilleburne
- Lilburn
Pronouncing Lilburn
LIL-burn
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second syllable is the northern word for a stream and keeps its own vowel rather than reducing entirely.
Nicknames for Lilburn
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 192538 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #845reached in 1886
- Change vs 1958
- 0.0%6 in 1961, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lilburns among us
people named Lilburn are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Lilburn sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It names a real place with a documented meaning, which surname-names often do not.
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- It is genuinely rare and has no living associations attached to it.
- Lilburne and Lilbourne are both recorded and the spelling will need giving.
- The first syllable is also a woman's nickname, which readers will notice.
- Nothing records which family or place a particular household meant by it.
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Lilburn
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Lilburns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Lilburn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lilburn in 2025?
- Lilburn is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Lilburn with classmates?
- Lilburn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Larry#1084 · Lawrence#518 · Louis#249 · Logan#53 · Liam#1 · Lucas#10 · Luke#33 · Leonard#637
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lilburn? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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