Lilla
A feminine diminutive of the name Eliza, of Germanic origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,323 living Americans carry the first name Lilla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lilla today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lilla births was 1918 (85 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lilla. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 259,074 Americans
Peak year
1918
85 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,328
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Lilla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lilla from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 657 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lilla 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 Lilla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lillas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Georgia, Alabama, Texas recorded the most babies named Lilla, while Mississippi, Louisiana, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 77 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lilla
The name Lilla has its origins in the Scandinavian languages, particularly Swedish and Norwegian. It is a diminutive form derived from the Old Norse name Lilja, which means "lily" and is related to the flower. The name can be traced back to the Viking Age and the early medieval period in Northern Europe.
In the 13th century, Lilla appeared as a Swedish feminine name, often used as a shortened version of longer names like Liljekrona or Lilljecrona. It was also a common pet name or hypocoristic form of names like Cecilia or Petronilla. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and was widely used among the Swedish nobility and upper classes.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lilla can be found in the 14th-century Swedish ballad "Lilla Gunnar Gröningsson," which tells the story of a young man named Gunnar. The name Lilla was likely used as a term of endearment or a diminutive form in this context.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Lilla. One of the earliest was Lilla Cederhielm (1650-1732), a Swedish countess and lady-in-waiting to Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden. Another prominent figure was Lilla Cabot Perry (1848-1933), an American artist and writer known for her portraits and landscape paintings.
In the 19th century, Lilla Hyttén (1838-1899) was a Swedish actress and singer who performed in numerous plays and operettas. Lilla Ziedner (1858-1928) was a Swedish writer and feminist activist, known for her works addressing women's rights and social issues.
The name Lilla also appears in literary works, such as the 1908 novel "Lilla Frök" by Swedish author Elin Wägner (1882-1949), which explores themes of gender roles and societal expectations.
While the name Lilla is predominantly Scandinavian in origin, it has also been used in other parts of Europe, particularly in German-speaking regions, where it is sometimes spelled as Lilli or Lili. However, its primary association remains with the Nordic countries and their cultural heritage.
People
Lilla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lilla 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
Lilla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lilla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,323 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lilla 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 259,074 US residents.
Is Lilla a common name?
We classify Lilla as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,414 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lilla most popular?
The single biggest year for Lilla was 1918, when 85 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lilla is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lilla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lilla 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.