Lily
Masculine · “The lily flower”
Lily is given to girls far more often — 189,644 girls against 145 boys since 1880. See Lily as a girl name
Lily entered the US charts in 1927, peaked at #3679 in 1934, is rarely given in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Lily?
Lily first appears in US birth records in 1927 — 98 years ago. The typical Lily alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 100 people named Lily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lily most popular?
Lily peaked in 1934, reaching #3679 nationally. See the whole 1934 chart.
Where it comes from
From Lilium to Lily
The story of Lily
The flower word came into English from Latin lilium, itself connected to Greek leirion, and for centuries it was a plant, not a person. The lily carried heavy symbolic freight in medieval and Renaissance Europe — the white Madonna lily of Christian art, the stylized fleur-de-lis of the French crown — which kept the word in constant view. When flower names became fashionable for girls in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century, Lily moved from the garden to the baptismal register alongside Rose, Violet and Daisy. It has been in continuous use since, reinforced by the longer Lilian and Lillian, for which Lily has always served as the everyday short form.
Meaning
The lily flower, from Latin lilium
The Latin lilium reached English as the flower name lily, and the given name comes directly from it. Lily also works as a short form of Lilian, Lillian and Liliana, so some bearers arrive at it from that side rather than from the flower.
How the name formed
- Lilium
- Lilie
- Lilian
- Lily
Related forms: Liliana · Liliane · Liliya · Lilie · Lilja · Lilly
Pronouncing Lily
LIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable. The pronunciation is the same in American and British English, and speakers of most languages manage it without instruction.
Nicknames for Lily
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
- 1927
- Most boys named
- 200421 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3679reached in 1934
- Change vs 2015
- −28.6%5 in 2020, from 7
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.
Lily in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Liliana in Italian, Spanish — related form
- Liliane in French — related form
- Liliya in Russian — transliteration
- Lilie in German — related form
- Lilja in Icelandic, Swedish — related form
- Lilly in English — spelling variant
Lilys among us
people named Lily 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
Lily 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
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What they receive
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Lily
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Lilys 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 Lily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lily in 2025?
- Lily is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Lily with classmates?
- Lily 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 Lily? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lily and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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