Lilley
Name of English origin representing a variant of the flower name lily.
Name Census estimates that about 421 living Americans carry the first name Lilley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lilley today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lilley births was 2008 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lilley. 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 Lilley with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
421
~ 1 in 814,143 Americans
Peak year
2008
33 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,585
Tracked since 1919
Census
Lilley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 430 people with the first name Lilley, which placed it at #22,949 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
#22,949
National first-name rank
People counted
430
430 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lilley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lilley is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Lilley 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 Lilley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 350
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 31
- Two or more races4.4% · 19
- Black or African American3.7% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Lilley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lilley from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 195 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
Lilley 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 Lilley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lilleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lilley
The name Lilley is rooted in the Old English word "lilie," which means "lily" or "lily flower." This name has its origins in England, specifically in the region of Lincolnshire, where it was derived from a place name referring to a location where lilies grew abundantly.
Historically, the name Lilley was often used as a surname, but it eventually transitioned into a given name as well. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lilley dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
Among the notable individuals who bore the name Lilley throughout history is Lilley Lill, an English composer and organist who lived from 1763 to 1839. He was renowned for his contributions to church music and his compositions for the organ.
Another prominent figure was Lilley Burt, an American educator and writer who lived from 1874 to 1954. She was a pioneering advocate for women's education and served as the president of Williams College, a prestigious women's institution, from 1920 to 1941.
In the literary world, Lilley Lunt was an acclaimed American author and journalist who lived from 1890 to 1968. She was known for her novels, short stories, and her work as a war correspondent during World War II.
The name Lilley also has historical significance in the realm of politics. Lilley Browne was an American politician and lawyer who lived from 1891 to 1976. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the state of Missouri from 1949 to 1957.
Lastly, Lilley Saunders was a British actress who graced the stage and screen from 1917 to 1998. She was renowned for her performances in various theatrical productions and appeared in several notable films throughout her illustrious career.
These individuals, spanning various fields and eras, have contributed to the rich history and legacy of the name Lilley, which continues to be cherished and celebrated for its beautiful floral origins and enduring charm.
People
Lilley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lilley 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
Lilley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lilley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 421 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lilley 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 814,143 US residents.
Is Lilley a common name?
We classify Lilley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 430 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lilley most popular?
The single biggest year for Lilley was 2008, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lilley is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lilley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 430 people with the name Lilley, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,949 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 Lilley 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 Lilley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lilley appears almost entirely female. Of the 433 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Lilley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lilley is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Lilley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lilley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (350 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 Lilley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lilley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lilley 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 Lilley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lilley 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 Lilley 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 are called Lilley?
You can see how many people share the name Lilley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.