Lylian
Feminine name derived from lilies, symbolizing purity and beauty.
Name Census estimates that about 363 living Americans carry the first name Lylian. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lylian today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lylian births was 2006 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lylian. 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
363
~ 1 in 944,227 Americans
Peak year
2006
28 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,695
Tracked since 1914
Census
Lylian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 407 people with the first name Lylian, which placed it at #23,894 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
#23,894
National first-name rank
People counted
407
407 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lylian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lylian is White at 55.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Lylian 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 Lylian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.3% · 225
- Hispanic or Latino24.6% · 100
- Black or African American6.6% · 27
- Two or more races6.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Lylian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lylian 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 168 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
Lylian 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 Lylian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lylian
The name Lylian is a feminine given name with its origins rooted in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "leirios," meaning "lily flower." The lily has long been a symbol of purity, innocence, and rebirth in various cultures, making the name a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a beautiful and meaningful connotation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lylian can be found in the writings of ancient Greek scholars, who often used it as a poetic reference to the lily flower. In classical Greek mythology, the lily was associated with the goddess Hera, the queen of the gods and the protector of marriage and childbirth.
During the Byzantine era, the name Lylian gained popularity among Christian families, as the lily became a symbol of the Virgin Mary and her purity. This association further solidified the name's connection to virtues such as chastity and devotion.
In the Middle Ages, the name Lylian made its way into various European languages, including French, Italian, and Spanish, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. One notable figure from this period was Lylian de Mosbach, a 13th-century German noblewoman and patron of the arts, renowned for her support of medieval literature and poetry.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Lylian experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the aristocratic classes. One famous bearer of the name was Lylian of Aragon, a 15th-century Spanish princess and the wife of King Ferdinand II of Naples.
During the Victorian era, the name Lylian gained widespread popularity in English-speaking countries, partly due to its association with the romantic ideals of the time. One notable figure from this period was Lylian Whiting, an American author and journalist born in 1847, known for her works on spiritualism and mysticism.
Other notable individuals with the name Lylian throughout history include Lylian Tindill, an American actress born in 1923, best known for her roles in Broadway productions, and Lylian Baylis, a British theatrical producer born in 1888, who played a significant role in the revival of the English ballet and opera.
People
Lylian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lylian 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
Lylian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lylian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 363 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lylian 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 944,227 US residents.
Is Lylian a common name?
We classify Lylian as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 373 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lylian most popular?
The single biggest year for Lylian was 2006, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lylian 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 Lylian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 407 people with the name Lylian, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,894 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 Lylian 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 Lylian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lylian leans strongly female. 393 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Lylian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lylian is White at 55.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Lylian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lylian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.3% (225 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 Lylian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lylian a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lylian 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 Lylian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lylian 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 Lylian 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 Lylian?
See how many Americans are named Lylian on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.