Lillian
The story
Lillian is an English elaboration of Lily, and behind both stands the Latin lilium, the flower painters placed in the hands of saints. Around 1900 it was everywhere: one of the leading girls' names of its era, worn among many others by Lillian Gish, the silent-film pioneer remembered as the First Lady of American Cinema. Then came the long slide every favorite of that generation took, bottoming out in the 1970s and 1980s, when Lillian sounded like a great-aunt. The hundred-year rule of name fashion held. Granddaughters and great-granddaughters rediscovered it, the climb began in the 1990s, and by the 2010s Lillian stood near its old heights again, easing only slightly since. It offers a quiet bargain: the full vintage formality of three gentle syllables, with Lily, itself a hit again, tucked inside as the everyday name.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lillian peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,749 people · the #5,614 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 111,111 · median age 33
Among people named Lillian living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 49 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
The Lillian deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lillian truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Lillian fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Lillian · Nicknames for Lillian · Middle names for Lillian
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