Lilyana
A feminine name of Latin origin, meaning "lily" or "lilac flower".
Name Census estimates that about 9,537 living Americans carry the first name Lilyana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lilyana today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lilyana births was 2012 (649 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lilyana. 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 Lilyana with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Lilyana is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
9.5K
~ 1 in 35,939 Americans
Peak year
2012
649 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#897
Tracked since 1981
Census
Lilyana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,563 people with the first name Lilyana, which placed it at #3,254 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
#3,254
National first-name rank
People counted
6.6K
6,563 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lilyana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lilyana is White at 46.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.3%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Lilyana 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 Lilyana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.7% · 3,066
- Hispanic or Latino40.3% · 2,645
- Two or more races7.5% · 491
- Black or African American2.7% · 179
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 58
Popularity
Lilyana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lilyana from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,257 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
Lilyana 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 Lilyana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lilyanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Lilyana, while West Virginia, Alaska, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 200 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lilyana
The given name Lilyana has its roots in the Slavic languages, particularly Russian and Bulgarian. It is a feminine form derived from the name Lilia, which itself stems from the Latin word "lilium," meaning "lily." The lily flower has long been associated with purity, innocence, and beauty in various cultures across Europe and Asia.
The name Lilyana gained prominence in the early 19th century, during the Russian Empire's expansion and cultural influence across Eastern Europe and parts of Central Asia. It was particularly popular among the noble and aristocratic classes, who often adopted names with floral and nature-inspired meanings as a symbol of refinement and elegance.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Lilyana can be traced back to the 18th century, when it appeared in Russian literature and historical records. However, its popularity rose significantly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as evidenced by the birth records of prominent Russian and Bulgarian families.
Among the notable historical figures who bore the name Lilyana, one can mention:
1. Lilyana Ivanovna Khitrovo (1787-1856), a Russian noblewoman and philanthropist, known for her charitable work and support of educational institutions.
2. Lilyana Dimitrova (1897-1979), a Bulgarian actress and theatre director, renowned for her performances in classical plays and her contributions to the development of modern Bulgarian theatre.
3. Lilyana Pravedna (1905-1992), a Bulgarian writer and translator, best known for her translations of Russian literature into Bulgarian, as well as her own works of fiction and poetry.
4. Lilyana Georgieva (1923-2009), a Bulgarian painter and artist, celebrated for her vibrant landscapes and portraiture, and her influential role in the development of modern Bulgarian art.
5. Lilyana Pavlova (1935-2022), a renowned Bulgarian opera singer and soprano, who performed on prestigious stages around the world, including the Bolshoi Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera.
Throughout its history, the name Lilyana has been associated with grace, beauty, and artistic expression, reflecting the cultural significance of the lily flower in Slavic traditions. While its usage may have fluctuated over time, the name continues to hold a special place in the cultural heritage of Eastern European nations, particularly Russia and Bulgaria.
People
Lilyana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lilyana 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
Lilyana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lilyana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,537 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lilyana 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 35,939 US residents.
Is Lilyana a common name?
We classify Lilyana as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,629 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lilyana most popular?
The single biggest year for Lilyana was 2012, when 649 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lilyana is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lilyana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,563 people with the name Lilyana, or 2.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,254 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 Lilyana 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 Lilyana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lilyana appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,562 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 Lilyana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lilyana is White at 46.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.3%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Lilyana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lilyana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.7% (3,066 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 Lilyana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lilyana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lilyana 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 Lilyana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lilyana 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 Lilyana 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 Lilyana?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.