Tillie
Feminine · “Short form of Matilda”
Tillie is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 15,738 girls against 27 boys since 1880.
Tillie is the affectionate form of Matilda that took on a life of its own in English — a two-syllable name with the same easy fall as Millie and Nellie. It has been written down in American households since the nineteenth century, when German- and Dutch-speaking families arriving in the States often shortened Mathilde to something their neighbors could say at once. It has never entirely left, and it is turning up again on new birth certificates.
How old is the name Tillie?
Tillie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Tillie alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. About 3,200 people named Tillie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tillie most popular?
Tillie peaked in 1884, reaching #147 nationally. Today it ranks #1261, 1,114 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Tillie appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Mahthildis to Tillie
The story of Tillie
The parent name, Matilda, was a favorite among the Germanic-speaking nobility of early medieval Europe and traveled into England after the Norman conquest, where it stayed in steady use for centuries. Every long name of that kind grows a household form, and Matilda produced Maud, Tilda, Tilly and Tillie. In the nineteenth century Tillie became especially visible in the United States, where families arriving from German- and Dutch-speaking Europe used it as the everyday English version of Mathilde or Ottilie. It has been recorded as a standalone given name — not merely a pet form — ever since.
Meaningscholars disagree
Short form of Matilda, "mighty in battle"
Tillie reaches most families through Matilda, from the Old Germanic elements maht "might, strength" and hild "battle". A smaller road runs through Ottilie and Odilia, built on the Germanic element od "wealth, fortune". Both are real; which one stands behind a particular Tillie depends on the family, and a Tillie given as a name in its own right carries whichever you choose.
How the name formed
- Mahthildis
- Matilda
- Tilda
- Tilly
- Tillie
Related forms: Tilly · Tilli · Tilda · Tilde · Tilly · Mathilde
Pronouncing Tillie
TIL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with Millie. The spelling gives almost no one trouble, though Tilly and Tillie are easily swapped.
Nicknames for Tillie
High
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
- 1915499 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #147reached in 1884
- Change vs 2022
- +13.5%177 in 2025, from 156
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.
Tillie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tilly in English — spelling variant
- Tilli in German — spelling variant
- Tilda in Swedish — related form
- Tilde in Danish — related form
- Tilly in Dutch — spelling variant
- Mathilde in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Tennessee.
Tillies among us
people named Tillie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 9,081 born in 2025 was named Tillie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Tillie is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Tillie is headed
Tillie looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 29% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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.
Tillie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tillie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, phonetic and spelled the way it sounds — most people get it right on first hearing.
- Comes with two dignified long forms, Matilda and Ottilie, if you want a formal name on the paperwork.
- In continuous English-language use since the nineteenth century, so it is old rather than new — a revival, not an invention.
- Recognizable across German, Dutch and Scandinavian naming traditions, where Tilly, Tilli and Tilda all sit comfortably.
- The people carrying this name in the US today skew heavily toward the oldest generations, so it may read as a great-grandmother's name to some listeners before it reads as a small child's.
- Because it began as a pet form, some people will ask what it is short for. That is easily answered — or headed off by registering Matilda or Ottilie.
- Tillie and Tilly will be confused for each other for life; expect to spell it out on forms.
- It rhymes readily with silly and chilly, which schoolyards occasionally notice.
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What they receive
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Tillie
Feminine · #1261 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tillies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Tillie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tillie in 2025?
- Tillie ranks #1261 among US girl names in 2025, with 177 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tillie?
- About 1 in every 9,081 US girls born in 2025 was named Tillie — 177 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tillie with classmates?
- Tillie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tillie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Karolina#1261 · Alba#1261 · Ariela#1261 · Heather#1261 · Isadora#1261 · Marlene#1261 · Areli#1261 · Zoie#1261
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tillie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tillie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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