Lilit
A feminine name of Armenian origin meaning "luxuriant" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 353 living Americans carry the first name Lilit. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lilit today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lilit births was 2008 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lilit. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
353
~ 1 in 970,975 Americans
Peak year
2008
17 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,200
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Lilit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lilit from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 116 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Lilit remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lilit by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lilit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lilits live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lilit
The name Lilit has its origins in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, specifically in the Babylonian and Assyrian cultures dating back to around 3500 BC. It is derived from the Sumerian word "lil," meaning "air" or "wind." The name was associated with a female demon or spirit known as Lilith, who was believed to prey on pregnant women and newborn infants.
In Jewish folklore, Lilith is depicted as Adam's first wife before Eve, created from the same earth as Adam. She refused to submit to Adam and was subsequently banished from the Garden of Eden. This legend is found in the Alphabet of Ben Sira, a medieval Jewish text from the 8th or 9th century AD.
The name Lilit appears in various ancient texts, including the Babylonian Talmud and the Dead Sea Scrolls, where it is associated with nocturnal demons and spirits. In some interpretations, Lilith is portrayed as a powerful and independent figure, while in others, she is seen as a dangerous and seductive temptress.
One of the earliest known references to the name Lilit can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem from around 2100 BC. In this epic, Lilit is mentioned as a demon who haunts the wilderness.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Lilit, including:
1. Lilit Gevorgyan (born 1978), an Armenian singer and actress.
2. Lilit Hovhannisyan (born 1997), an Armenian chess player and Woman Grandmaster.
3. Lilit Makunts (born 1969), a Russian-Armenian singer and actress.
4. Lilit Galstyan (born 1992), an Armenian singer and songwriter.
5. Lilit Ter-Petrosyan (born 1976), an Armenian chess player and Woman Grandmaster.
It is worth noting that the name Lilit has been more commonly used in Armenian and Eastern European cultures, likely due to its historical and mythological roots in the region. However, it has also gained popularity in recent years as a unique and enigmatic name choice in other parts of the world.
People
Lilit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lilit as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lilit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lilit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lilit going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 970,975 US residents.
Is Lilit a common name?
We classify Lilit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 359 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lilit most popular?
The single biggest year for Lilit was 2008, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lilit is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lilit a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lilit in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.