Lili
Feminine · “lily”
Lili is either a flower or a piece of Elisabeth, and both roads are old and respectable. German and Hungarian families have used it for both reasons for a very long time, and the spelling does not tell you which one a household means.
How old is the name Lili?
Lili first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Lili alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 3,700 people named Lili are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lili most popular?
Lili peaked in 1954, reaching #1333 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 1,445 places below that high. See the whole 1954 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From lilium to Lili
The story of Lili
Continental Europe has used Lili as a name in its own right for generations — German, Hungarian, Czech and French records all carry it — sometimes as a flower name and sometimes as what a family called their Elisabeth. English has generally preferred Lily with a y for the flower and Lizzie for the name, which is why the double-i spelling reads as European in American records. It arrived with Central European families and has stayed in modest, steady use, quite separate from the recent rise of Lily.
Meaningscholars disagree
lily — or a short form of Elisabeth
The flower road runs from Latin lilium through the English and German lily, and the flower has carried symbolic weight in European art for centuries. The other road is a diminutive: German and Hungarian shorten Elisabeth to Lili and Lilike, and Elisabeth is Hebrew Elisheva, 'my God is an oath'. A third road, the Hebrew Lilith, is a separate name entirely and not a source of this one.
How the name formed
- lilium
- Lili
Related forms: Lily · Lilli · Lili · Lily
Pronouncing Lili
LEE-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first, both vowels a long e — which is the point of the double-i spelling. English speakers who read it as Lily will say LIL-ee instead, with a short first vowel, and that is a different sound.
Nicknames for Lili
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
- 1912
- Most girls named
- 2002130 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1333reached in 1954
- Change vs 2023
- −14.1%61 in 2025, from 71
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.
Lili in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lily in English — spelling variant
- Lilli in German — spelling variant
- Lili in Hungarian — same name
- Lily in French — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Lilis among us
people named Lili are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Lili
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Lili
- #2778
- Lili on the 2025 chart
- #13
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Lili went to 61 girls in 2025, but Lily and Lilly are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 7,989, which makes it the 13th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,765 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 201 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 26,349 for Lili itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Oralee test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lili's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Oralee climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Oralee's path sketches the road Lili is walking now.
Lili 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lili is headed
Lili should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Lili beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lili in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two identical syllables, which is about as easy as a name gets to write.
- Elisabeth stands behind it as a full formal name on one of its two roads.
- Recognized across German, Hungarian, French and Czech use rather than borrowed from one.
- English speakers will read it as Lily and say LIL-ee, which is not the intended sound.
- Lili, Lilly, Lily and Lilli all circulate and are constantly confused.
- It is very short and may read as a nickname on official documents.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Lili to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Lili? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Lili
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lilis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,700 people named Lili are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Lili?
- Lili is one of 3 recorded spellings. Lily is the more common one — 6,673 births in 2025 against 61 for Lili.
- How popular is the name Lili in 2025?
- Lili ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lili?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Lili — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lili with classmates?
- Lili will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lili
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lili? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lili and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle