Liz
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Meaning
short form of Elizabeth, ultimately Hebrew 'God is my oath'
The story
Three letters can be surprisingly hard to agree on. Elizabeth Taylor was publicly known as Liz, yet she had her own opinion about that familiar shortening. Asked by Barbara Walters in 1999 what her epitaph should say, she joked that it should name Elizabeth, mention her dislike of Liz, and add that she had lived. The joke works because Liz and Elizabeth are so closely connected: Liz is an English short form of the longer name. Elizabeth itself reaches through Greek Elisabet to Hebrew Elisheva, traditionally understood as “my God is an oath.” That is a considerable journey for a name that now fits into three letters. Taylor’s answer adds an unusually personal footnote to the family tree: the familiar name everyone recognizes may still differ from the name its bearer wants to hear.
The formal names behind Liz
Liz is an established short form of this name.
Elizabeth · Hebrew origin · "God is my oath," from the Hebrew Elisheva; the great durable classic of English girl names, worn by two reigning queens and rarely out of the US top 30 in over a century of records. Its nickname wealth is unmatched: Liz, Beth, Eliza, Betsy, Libby
Liz across languages
One shared root links 26 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Elisheva, "my God is an oath"
The constellation
19 more branches of this family
How popular is Liz around the world?
In the United States, 1,015 babies were named Liz between 2020 and 2025. In Chile, 76 girls were registered as Liz in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
Liz is on the official records of the United States, Chile, Argentina, Ireland, Brazil, Montevideo, France, South Australia, Canada, Mexico City, Austria, England and Wales and Spain.
United States
1 in 21,000
In the United States, 1,015 babies were named Liz between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Liz peaked in the 1950s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Liz has stayed between 611 and 3,392 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Chile
1 in 2,300
In Chile, 76 girls were registered as Liz in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
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
Argentina
1 in 2,800
In Argentina, 233 newborns were given the name Liz in 2024.
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
Ireland
1 in 4,500
In Ireland, 12 girls named Liz were born in 2025, the 325th most common name among girls that year.
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
Brazil
1 in 4,500
At the 2022 census, 44,828 people in Brazil were named Liz, the 606th most common name, with a median age of 2.
Among people named Liz living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 31,452 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
Montevideo City
1 in 8,2002011
In Montevideo, 3 girls named Liz were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
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
France
1 in 18,000
In France, about 35 girls named Liz were born in 2025, the 993rd most common name among girls that year.
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)
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Liz in 2017.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Canada
1 in 19,000
In Canada, 19 girls named Liz were born in 2024, ranked 1,286th among girls that year.
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)
Mexico City City
1 in 24,000
In Mexico City, there were 5 registrations of Liz in 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
Austria
1 in 25,000
In Austria, 3 girls named Liz were born in 2025, ranked 1,026th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
England and Wales
1 in 33,000
In England and Wales, 18 girls named Liz were born in 2025, ranked 1,639th among girls that year.
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
Spain
1 in 180,000
In Spain, 254 residents are named Liz, ranked 3,729th among women, with a mean age of 18.6 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
Norway
last on record 1994
Liz is not on the 2025 record for Norway, where names carried by fewer than 4 people in a year are withheld at source.
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)
Poland
last on record 2023
Liz is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
Puerto Rico
last on record 2020
Liz is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 617 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Not on the record in New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
When you meet Liz
People given the name Liz in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 2009. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Liz deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Liz 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 Liz fits with your family’s names and surname.
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