Lillee
Feminine · “The lily flower”
Lillee is Lily with the most modern of the three available endings. English offers -y, -ie and -ee for the same final sound, and they are not neutral: -y is the default, -ie reads as early twentieth century, and -ee reads as recent. Choosing -ee places a name in the last thirty years almost by itself.
How old is the name Lillee?
Lillee first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Lillee alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,100 people named Lillee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lillee most popular?
Lillee peaked in 2010, reaching #2427 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 4,706 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From lilium to Lillee
The story of Lillee
Flower names entered English naming in the Victorian period as a coherent set — Rose, Violet, Daisy, Lily, Iris, Poppy — and Lily was among the largest. It faded after 1920 and returned enormously after 1995, becoming a top-thirty American name. The respellings followed: Lilly, Lillie, Lili, Lilee, Lillee. Lillee doubles the l and takes the -ee ending, which is the most heavily marked combination available, and it peaked in 2010 at the height of the parent name's run.
Meaning
The lily flower, from Latin lilium
Lily is a flower name from Latin lilium, itself probably borrowed from a Mediterranean language before Latin. The flower has carried a Marian association in Christian art since the Middle Ages. Lily is also used as a short form of Lillian, which comes by a different route from Elizabeth, but the flower is the primary source for the modern name.
How the name formed
- lilium
- lily
- Lily
- Lillee
Related forms: Lys · Lirio · Shoshana
Pronouncing Lillee
LIL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, said exactly like Lily. The doubled l guards the short vowel and the -ee spells the same sound as -y. Nothing in the respelling is audible.
Nicknames for Lillee
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
- 1998
- Most girls named
- 200977 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2427reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- −37.5%15 in 2025, from 24
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.
Lillee in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lys in French — related form
- Lirio in Spanish — related form
- Shoshana in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Alabama, California, Texas.
Lillees among us
people named Lillee are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Lillee
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Lillee
- #7133
- Lillee on the 2025 chart
- #912
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Lillee went to 15 girls in 2025, but Lilee, Lile and Lyle and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 48, which makes it the 912th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,221 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 33,485 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 107,151 for Lillee 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 Jeneane test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lillee's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jeneane climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jeneane's path sketches the road Lillee is walking now.
Lillee 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
Lillee beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lillee in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The flower meaning is settled, familiar and entirely positive.
- Lil and Lulu are both ready-made short forms.
- It sounds like a top-thirty name while being rare on paper.
- Lily, Lilly, Lillie, Lili and Lillee all sound identical and will be confused.
- The -ee ending dates the spelling to the last few decades.
- The spelling must be given every time.
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What they receive
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Lillee
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lillees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Lillee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Lillee?
- Lillee is one of 5 recorded spellings. Lilee is the more common one — 17 births in 2025 against 15 for Lillee.
- How popular is the name Lillee in 2025?
- Lillee ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lillee?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Lillee — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lillee with classmates?
- Lillee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lillee
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lillee? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lillee and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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