Lillian
Feminine · “lily”
Lillian is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 475,028 girls against 1,429 boys since 1880. See Lillian as a boy name
Lillian belongs to the lily, and the lily of European art is not a European plant. The white flower in every Annunciation painting is the Madonna lily, native to the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, brought west by cultivation, and it became the standard symbol of purity across a continent where it does not grow wild.
How old is the name Lillian?
Lillian was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lillian alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 209,000 people named Lillian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lillian most popular?
Lillian peaked in 1898, reaching #10 nationally. Today it ranks #57, 47 places below that high. See the whole 1898 chart.
Where it comes from
From A Mediterranean flower carried north by cultivation to Lillian
The story of Lillian
The plant was cultivated in Crete four thousand years ago, appears on Minoan frescoes, was grown by the Romans, and traveled across Europe in monastery gardens because it was needed for religious painting and for medicine. By the medieval period it was the standard attribute of the Virgin and of a long list of saints, and any painter needing to signal purity reached for it. What is easy to miss is how much work that took: the plant is fussy, dislikes being moved, and was not growing in northern European hedgerows waiting to be noticed. It became the symbol of a continent's religious art because gardeners kept it alive there deliberately, for centuries, a long way from anywhere it belonged.
Meaningscholars disagree
lily
The name is generally derived from the flower, though it may equally have begun as a pet form of Elizabeth that was later reinterpreted as a flower name. Both accounts have support. The flower's own name comes into English from Latin and further back from a Mediterranean source, and the reading is straightforward whichever route the personal name took.
Cultural footprint
Lillian Gish (b. 1893) — The "First Lady of American Cinema"
Lillian Gilbreth (b. 1878) — Pioneering engineer — and the real mom of Cheaper by the Dozen
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- A Mediterranean flower carried north by cultivation
- The standard symbol of purity in European art
- Lily and Lilian as English names
- Lillian, with the consonant doubled, in heavy American use
Related forms: Liliane · Liliana · Liliana
Pronouncing Lillian
LIL-ee-un
Three syllables, stress on the first. The doubled l does the English job of keeping the vowel before it short; with a single l the first syllable would run long and the name would be a different sound.
Nicknames for Lillian
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19189,986 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #10reached in 1898
- Change vs 2022
- −6.9%3,966 in 2025, from 4,260
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.
Lillian in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Liliane in French — related form
- Liliana in Italian — related form
- Liliana in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Lillians among us
people named Lillian are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 405 born in 2025 was named Lillian
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Lillian
- #57
- Lillian on the 2025 chart
- #50
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Lillian went to 3,966 girls in 2025, but Lilian, Lilyann and Lillyann and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 10 spellings went to 4,748, which makes it the 50th most-given girls’ name of the year — 7 places above the chart.
and 4 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 339 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 405 for Lillian 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
Lillian has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lillian is headed
Lillian should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Lillian beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lillian in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- Lily is available inside it and is one of the most fashionable short names anywhere.
- It has been in continuous use for well over a century without ever sounding dated.
- Lilian with one l is the older spelling and both are standard.
- It is currently very popular again, which is a consideration in a classroom.
- The spelling is on the register for boys as well, in very small numbers.
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What they receive
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Lillian
Feminine · #57 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lillians are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 209,000 people named Lillian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Lillian?
- Lillian is the most-used spelling in US records — 3,966 of the 4,748 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Lilian, Lilyann, Lillyann, Lilliann and Lilyan.
- How popular is the name Lillian in 2025?
- Lillian ranks #57 among US girl names in 2025, with 3,966 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Lillian?
- About 1 in every 405 US girls born in 2025 was named Lillian — 3,966 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lillian with classmates?
- Lillian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lillian
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leah#58 · Hannah#56 · Adeline#59 · Sophie#55 · Leilani#60 · Victoria#54 · Josephine#53 · Iris#61
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lillian? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lillian and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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