Lillee
A feminine diminutive of the name Lily, from the flower symbol of purity.
Name Census estimates that about 1,060 living Americans carry the first name Lillee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lillee today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lillee births was 2009 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lillee. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lillee with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Lillee is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 323,353 Americans
Peak year
2009
77 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,361
Tracked since 1998
Census
Lillee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 884 people with the first name Lillee, which placed it at #13,601 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,601
National first-name rank
People counted
884
884 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lillee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lillee is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lillee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lillee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.8% · 697
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 80
- Two or more races6.9% · 61
- Black or African American2.0% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 12
Popularity
Lillee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lillee from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 577 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lillee 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 Lillee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lillees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Missouri recorded the most babies named Lillee, while Arkansas, Alabama, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lillee
The name Lillee is believed to be derived from the English word "lily," which traces its origins back to the Latin "lilium." The lily flower has held significant symbolic meaning across various cultures throughout history, often representing purity, innocence, and renewal.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lillee can be found in the 17th century, when it was used as a diminutive form of the name Lilian or Lillian. During this time period, the name gained popularity among English-speaking communities, particularly in the United States and Britain.
In the realm of literature, the name Lillee made an appearance in the works of renowned authors such as William Shakespeare. In his play "Love's Labour's Lost," one of the characters is named Lillee, a reference to the delicate and beautiful lily flower.
Historically, several notable individuals have borne the name Lillee. One of the earliest recorded was Lillee Langtry (1853-1923), a British actress and socialite who was a celebrated beauty of her time. Another prominent figure was Lillee Devereux Blake (1835-1938), an American author and activist who fought for women's rights and advocated for social reform.
Moving into the 20th century, Lillee Hayward (1891-1977) was a British stage and film actress who enjoyed a successful career during the early years of cinema. In the world of sports, Lillee Gooden (1922-2003) was an Australian cricketer who played for the national team in the 1940s and 1950s.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Lillee is undoubtedly Dennis Lillee (born 1949), a legendary Australian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers in the history of the sport. His exceptional career spanned from the 1970s to the early 1980s, and he was instrumental in numerous victories for the Australian national team.
Throughout its history, the name Lillee has maintained a delicate and graceful connotation, often associated with the beauty and symbolism of the lily flower. While its popularity has ebbed and flowed over time, it remains a timeless and elegant choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Lillee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lillee 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
Lillee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lillee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,060 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lillee 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 323,353 US residents.
Is Lillee a common name?
We classify Lillee as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,070 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lillee most popular?
The single biggest year for Lillee was 2009, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lillee is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lillee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 884 people with the name Lillee, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,601 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lillee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lillee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lillee appears almost entirely female. Of the 885 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lillee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lillee is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lillee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lillee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (697 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lillee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lillee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lillee 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.
Is Lillee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lillee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lillee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Lillee as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Lillee, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.