Lily
Meaning
"the lily," from the Latin lilium, the flower of purity in centuries of Christian art; a Victorian flower name that led its generation, faded, and bloomed again a hundred years later. Also the affectionate short form of Lillian
The story
Lily is the flower, straight from the Latin lilium, and in centuries of Christian painting the bloom stood for purity itself, placed in the hands of the Virgin and the saints. The Victorians, who loved to name daughters from the garden, made Lily a nursery fixture, and its modern history follows the classic flower-name arc: well loved at the century's start, then quiet through its middle decades, then blooming again alongside Rose, Daisy, and Violet as the millennium turned. The climb began in the 1980s and crested in the 2000s, and though it has drifted down gently since, Lily remains a firmly established favorite. It also moonlights as the affectionate short form of Lillian, so a Lily can be entirely herself or the everyday face of something more formal. Either way, the flower does most of the work.
The formal names behind Lily
Lily is an established short form of each of these names.
Lillian · English origin · elaboration of Lily, from Latin lilium (lily flower)
Liliana · Latin origin · elaboration of Lily, from lilium (lily flower)
Lily's name family
One shared root links 4 names across 2 languages.
Shared root: from Latin lilium "lily", the flower of purity
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lily peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
383 people · the #16,080 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 11
Among people named Lily living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 116 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Lily
Most people given the name Lily in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Lily deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lily 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 Lily fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Lily · Middle names for Lily · Dual-language baby names · Short names
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