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Lily

girl name
Origin
English
Syllables
2
Peak era
2010s/2020s
Today
▲ Rising

Torn between Lily and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

the lily flower; English word ultimately from Latin lilium, associated with purity in Christian art

The story

Lily once grew almost as tall as a house, at least in a painting. In Zanobi Strozzi’s Annunciation, a glass vase stands on the garden lawn, and the flowers reach to a startling height beside the building. They are doing a great deal of work in that small scene. White lilies became a symbol of Mary’s purity in Christian art, often appearing in Gabriel’s hand or in a vase. Strozzi gives them room enough to make the message hard to miss. The given name comes from the English flower word, ultimately the Latin lilium; purity is the artistic association, rather than the word’s literal meaning. That distinction leaves Lily with both a clear root and a rich visual history. A small name and a familiar flower, rising to an extraordinary height in one painted garden.

More names with stories →

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 · a form of Lillian, which may be an expanded form of Lily, from Latin lilium, "lily"

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

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

LilyEnglishLiliaSpanish

More branches

LillyEnglish · variantLillieEnglish · variant

How popular is Lily around the world?

In the United States, 35,877 babies were named Lily between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 302 girls named Lily were born in 2025, the 1st most common name among girls that year.

Lily is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, South Australia, New Zealand, New South Wales, Canada, Norway, France, Austria, Poland, Mexico City, Chile, Spain, Argentina and Brazil.

United States

1 in 610

In the United States, 35,877 babies were named Lily between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2010s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lily peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Ireland

1 in 180

In Ireland, 302 girls named Lily were born in 2025, the 1st most common name among girls that year.

1980peak 20112025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Scotland

1 in 200

In Scotland, 231 girls named Lily were registered in 2024, the 4th most common name among girls that year.

1974peak 2011

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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England and Wales

1 in 260

In England and Wales, 2,249 girls named Lily were born in 2025, the 2nd most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 20112025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

South Australia

1 in 310 · 2017

In South Australia, 60 girls were registered as Lily in 2017.

1944peak 2007

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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New Zealand

1 in 370

In New Zealand, 155 girls named Lily were registered in 2025.

1900peak 2010

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

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New South Wales

#9 · 2025

In New South Wales, 257 girls named Lily were registered in 2025, ranked 9th in that year’s top 100 for girls.

1990peak 20102025

share of that year’s top-100 registrations

New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names

See the full list for New South Wales →

Canada

1 in 460

In Canada, 794 girls named Lily were born in 2024, the 9th most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 20112024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Norway

1 in 580 · register 2026

In Norway, 46 girls were given the name Lily in 2025.

1990peak 2024

share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

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France

1 in 960

In France, about 670 girls named Lily were born in 2025, the 70th most common name among girls that year.

1900peak 2011

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Austria

1 in 2,200

In Austria, 35 girls named Lily were born in 2025, the 174th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

1984peak 2025

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Poland

1 in 4,800

In Poland, 51 girls named Lily were born in 2025, the 176th most common name among girls that year.

2000peak 20152025

share of that year’s name registrations

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

See the full list for Poland →

Mexico City City

1 in 9,000

In Mexico City, there were 13 registrations of Lily in 2022.

2000peak 2022

share of that year’s registrations in the city

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

See the full list for Mexico City →

Chile

1 in 18,000

In Chile, 10 girls were registered as Lily in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

peak 19312021

share of that year’s name registrations

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

See the full list for Chile →

Spain

1 in 100,000

In Spain, 438 residents are named Lily, ranked 2,505th among women, with a mean age of 22.2 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Argentina

1 in 220,000

In Argentina, 3 newborns were given the name Lily in 2024.

2012peak 2023

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Brazil

1 in 500,000

At the 2022 census, 383 people in Brazil were named Lily, ranked 16,080th, with a median age of 11.
Among people named Lily living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.

1930speak 2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 116 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Montevideo City

last on record 2010

Lily is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

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.

Names that fit alongside Lily

Ivy Hazel Rosemary Savannah Evelyn Meadow

Keep exploring

Names like Lily · Names that go with Lily · Middle names for Lily · Dual-language baby names · Short names · What is Lily short for?

Name trails: explore connections from Lily →

The Lily deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

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.

Both reports, explained →

Does Lily fit YOUR family?

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