Lillie
Masculine · “The lily”
Lillie is given to girls far more often — 158,918 girls against 873 boys since 1880. See Lillie as a girl name
Lillie is a flower name with a soft ending, and the flower has spent two thousand years standing for things it may never have been — including in the most famous sentence ever written about it.
How old is the name Lillie?
Lillie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lillie alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 100 people named Lillie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lillie most popular?
Lillie peaked in 1898, reaching #635 nationally. See the whole 1898 chart.
Where it comes from
From Lilium to Lillie
The story of Lillie
Consider the lilies of the field: the line is famous and the flower is doubtful. Botanists who have looked at what actually grows wild in that landscape have proposed anemones, crocuses, poppies, irises and the common field flowers that come up in spring after rain — anything but the white garden lily that European painters put into the pictures. The Greek word behind it was used loosely for showy wildflowers in general. So the most quoted flower in Western literature is a translation choice, and every painting of it is a guess made a thousand miles and fifteen hundred years from the field in question.
Meaning
The lily
The word is the flower's, from Latin, and it reached English very early — lilies were grown in monastery gardens and the word is one of the oldest plant borrowings in the language. Some bearers of this spelling come from Lillian instead, which is a separate name with a separate history.
How the name formed
- Lilium
- Lily
- Lillie
Related forms: Lili · Lilli
Pronouncing Lillie
LIL-ee
Two syllables, stress at the front. The doubled l keeps the vowel before it short, which is the one thing the spelling is doing.
Nicknames for Lillie
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 boys named
- 192126 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #635reached in 1898
- Change vs 1962
- 0.0%5 in 1969, from 5
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.
Lillie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lili in French — same name
- Lilli in German — same name
Lillies among us
people named Lillie 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
Lillie 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
- The word behind it is concrete, familiar and entirely pleasant.
- It is short and easy for a small child to say about herself.
- It is both a vintage name and a current one, which very few manage.
- Lily and Lilly are both commoner and hers will be written as one of them.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
- The flower is heavily associated with funerals in some countries, which is worth knowing.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Lillie 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 Lillie? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Lillie
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Lillies 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 Lillie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lillie in 2025?
- Lillie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Lillie with classmates?
- Lillie 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 Lillie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lillie 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