Lillian
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "lily flower".
Name Census estimates that about 193,349 living Americans carry the first name Lillian. It sits at #54 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lillian today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lillian births was 1920 (10,075 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Brooke (191,964).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lillian. 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 Lillian with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Lillian is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,429 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
193K
~ 1 in 1,773 Americans
Peak year
1920
10,075 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2020 SSA rank
#54
Tracked since 1880
Census
Lillian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 182,252 people with the first name Lillian, which placed it at #306 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
#306
National first-name rank
People counted
182K
182,252 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
60.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lillian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lillian is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.8%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Lillian 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 Lillian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.7% · 130,593
- Hispanic or Latino11.8% · 21,518
- Black or African American8.0% · 14,660
- Two or more races4.6% · 8,444
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 5,666
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1,371
Gender
Gender distribution for Lillian
Out of the 472,453 babies given the name Lillian since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Lillian as a male name
- Ranked #13,286 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1928 (46 births)
Lillian as a female name
- Ranked #54 in 2024
- 3,882 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (10,049 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lillian appears almost entirely female. Of the 182,256 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Lillian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lillian 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 83,491 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
Lillian 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 Lillian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 38 | 11,270 | 11,308 |
| 1890s | 104 | 24,106 | 24,210 |
| 1900s | 127 | 32,519 | 32,646 |
| 1910s | 244 | 75,914 | 76,158 |
| 1920s | 332 | 83,159 | 83,491 |
| 1930s | 225 | 37,393 | 37,618 |
| 1940s | 90 | 22,314 | 22,404 |
| 1950s | 51 | 16,508 | 16,559 |
| 1960s | 57 | 10,607 | 10,664 |
| 1970s | 15 | 5,363 | 5,378 |
| 1980s | 14 | 5,389 | 5,403 |
| 1990s | 13 | 11,229 | 11,242 |
| 2000s | 73 | 49,392 | 49,465 |
| 2010s | 41 | 64,948 | 64,989 |
| 2020s | 5 | 20,913 | 20,918 |
Geography
Where Lillians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Lillian, while Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7,867 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lillian
The name Lillian is a feminine given name of Latin origin. It is derived from the Latin name Lilium, meaning "lily" – the beautiful and fragrant flower. The lily has long been associated with purity, innocence, and beauty in various cultures throughout history.
The name Lillian gained popularity during the Middle Ages when it was introduced into English-speaking regions. It was often used as a variant of the name Elizabeth, which also has its roots in Hebrew and means "God is my oath." This connection to Elizabeth may have contributed to the name's early acceptance and use.
Lillian can be traced back to ancient Roman times, where lilies were revered and frequently used in religious ceremonies and rituals. The name was likely used as a personal name during this period, though written records are scarce.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Lillian can be found in the 12th century, where it appears in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use in England by the late 11th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lillian. One of the earliest recorded was Lillian of Sweden (1173-1198), a Swedish princess and countess of Norfolk. Another early figure was Lillian Repinghau (1359-1416), a German nun and mystic who wrote extensively on spiritual matters.
In the 19th century, the name gained further popularity with figures such as Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), an American dramatist and screenwriter known for plays like "The Little Foxes" and "The Children's Hour." Lillian Gish (1893-1993) was a pioneering American actress who starred in numerous silent films and is considered a legend of the early cinema era.
Other notable Lillians include Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972), an American psychologist and industrial engineer who made significant contributions to the study of ergonomics and efficiency, and Lillian D. Wald (1867-1940), a nurse and social worker who founded the Henry Street Settlement in New York City.
The name Lillian has endured throughout the centuries, cherished for its connection to the beautiful lily flower and its association with purity, grace, and femininity. Its long and varied history reflects its timeless appeal and the lasting impact of many remarkable individuals who have carried this name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lillian
People
Lillian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lillian 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
Lillian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lillian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 193,349 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lillian 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 1,773 US residents.
Is Lillian a common name?
We classify Lillian as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 472,453 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lillian most popular?
The single biggest year for Lillian was 1920, when 10,075 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lillian is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lillian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 182,252 people with the name Lillian, or 60.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #306 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 Lillian 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 Lillian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lillian appears almost entirely female. Of the 182,256 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Lillian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lillian is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.8%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Lillian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lillian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.7% (130,593 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 Lillian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lillian a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Lillian 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 Lillian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lillian 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 Lillian 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 common is the name Lillian?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Lillian on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.