Lilie
Feminine · “Latin lilium”
Lily may not be a flower name. Lilian, from which Lily is often shortened, is more likely a medieval English pet form of Elizabeth than a use of the plant, and the flower reading was applied later, once the name looked like the word. A great many flower names in English turn out to be flowers only by afterthought.
How old is the name Lilie?
Lilie first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Lilie alive today was born around 1932, making them about 93 years old. About 700 people named Lilie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lilie most popular?
Lilie peaked in 1890, reaching #825 nationally. Today it ranks #8362, 7,537 places below that high. See the whole 1890 chart.
Where it comes from
From lilium to Lilie
The story of Lilie
Flower names became fashionable for English girls in the nineteenth century, and the fashion pulled several older names into the category that had not been there. Lily is the clearest case: it exists as a medieval short form of Elizabeth, it exists as a flower word, and by 1880 nobody was distinguishing them. Rose has the same problem, being both the flower and a Germanic name element hros, a horse, that produced Rosamund and Rosalind, neither of which contains a flower. Daisy became a nickname for Margaret because the French name for the flower is marguerite. Ivy, Violet, Iris and Fern are straightforwardly flowers. Reading a Victorian flower name is therefore a matter of checking rather than assuming, and the honest answer for Lily is that both readings are current and the earlier one is probably the older.
Meaningscholars disagree
Latin lilium, a lily
Lily is usually taken from the flower, Latin lilium, a word probably borrowed from a Mediterranean source. But Lilian and Lillian, from which Lily is often a short form, appear in medieval English records as pet forms of Elizabeth, and the flower reading may be a later reinterpretation. Lilie is a nineteenth-century English and German spelling. It peaks in the American data in 1890.
How the name formed
- lilium
- Lily
- Lilie
Related forms: Lily · Lilie · Lillie
Pronouncing Lilie
LIL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, short i. In German Lilie has three syllables, LEE-lee-uh, and is the ordinary word for the flower. English says it as Lily.
Nicknames for Lilie
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
- 1881
- Most girls named
- 200840 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #825reached in 1890
- Change vs 2023
- +9.1%12 in 2025, from 11
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.
Lilie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lily in English — spelling variant
- Lilie in German — same name
- Lillie in English — spelling variant
Lilies among us
people named Lilie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 133,939 born in 2025 was named Lilie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Lilie
- #8362
- Lilie on the 2025 chart
- #565
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Lilie went to 12 girls in 2025, but Lillie is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 432, which makes it the 565th most-given girls’ name of the year — 7,797 places above the chart.
- Lillie420
- Lilie12
About 1 girl in 3,721 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 133,939 for Lilie 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
Fashion outlook
Lilie 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
Lilie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lilie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The flower behind it is familiar and universally admired.
- It is short, soft and easy to say.
- It has a documented nineteenth-century history.
- Lily and Lillie are both far more common spellings.
- German gives the same spelling three syllables.
- Whether the name is a flower or a form of Elizabeth is not settled.
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Lilie
Feminine · #8362 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lilies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Lilie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Lilie?
- Lilie is one of 2 recorded spellings. Lillie is the more common one — 420 births in 2025 against 12 for Lilie.
- How popular is the name Lilie in 2025?
- Lilie ranks #8362 among US girl names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lilie?
- About 1 in every 133,939 US girls born in 2025 was named Lilie — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lilie with classmates?
- Lilie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lilie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lona#8362 · Peggy#8362 · Leda#8362 · Margarette#8362 · Rella#8362 · Evalena#8362 · Vashti#8362 · Nona#8362
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lilie? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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