girls' name ★ peaked 2011

Lily

Gender Girl Rank 2025 #18 Trend ↑ Rising 19%

Lily is a feminine given name usually derived from lily, the flower.

Rank 2025
#18
among girls · ↑6 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
6,673
named Lily · +9% vs 2024
How common
1 in 241
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2011
8,199 babies
All-time total
189,789
#208 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Lily popularity over time

189,789 babies have been named Lily since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
1.252.53.75518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 680 – 680 68 – #201
1890s 979 – 979 98 +44% #255
1900s 1,045 – 1,045 105 +7% #287
1910s 2,795 – 2,795 280 +167% #291
1920s 3,757 5 3,762 376 +35% #317
1930s 2,229 5 2,234 223 -41% #389
1940s 1,511 – 1,511 151 -32% #509
1950s 1,426 – 1,426 143 -6% #740
1960s 1,148 – 1,148 115 -19% #906
1970s 1,220 – 1,220 122 +6% #902
1980s 2,708 6 2,714 271 +122% #545
1990s 9,772 – 9,772 977 +260% #152
2000s 56,186 77 56,263 5,626 +476% #18
2010s 68,316 47 68,363 6,836 +22% #15
2020s (to 2025) 35,872 5 35,877 5,980 -13% #18

Where Lily is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 6,862 4.27 #16
2027 7,026 4.37 #16
2028 7,169 4.46 #14
2029 7,293 4.54 #14
2030 7,399 4.60 #14

Where Lily is most popular

Girls named Lily per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 3.77 per 1,000. Strongest in Hawaii, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Lily born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Hawaii 141 12.3 +226%
Vermont 58 12.0 +217%
Wyoming 43 10.1 +167%
Rhode Island 108 8.63 +129%
New Hampshire 158 8.56 +127%
Montana 113 8.35 +121%
Utah 658 7.91 +110%
Maine 119 7.69 +104%
Delaware 85 7.49 +99%
Alaska 63 7.32 +94%
South Dakota 103 7.21 +91%
District of Columbia 85 7.17 +90%
North Dakota 90 6.85 +81%
Connecticut 391 6.72 +78%
Massachusetts 752 6.22 +65%
Arkansas 323 6.11 +62%
Idaho 196 5.86 +55%
Colorado 631 5.65 +50%
Kentucky 477 5.58 +48%
Washington 799 5.53 +47%
South Carolina 484 5.38 +43%
New Jersey 952 5.27 +40%
Wisconsin 542 5.26 +39%
Minnesota 567 5.25 +39%
Tennessee 829 5.23 +39%
Iowa 303 5.19 +37%
Virginia 872 5.12 +36%
New Mexico 122 5.02 +33%
Pennsylvania 1,178 4.98 +32%
Oklahoma 364 4.95 +31%
Nevada 228 4.91 +30%
Nebraska 176 4.90 +30%
Kansas 282 4.89 +30%
Maryland 516 4.87 +29%
Alabama 445 4.74 +26%
Oregon 305 4.68 +24%
New York 1,804 4.56 +21%
North Carolina 1,036 4.55 +21%
Illinois 1,036 4.53 +20%
Michigan 818 4.49 +19%
Louisiana 392 4.48 +19%
Arizona 618 4.40 +17%
Florida 1,864 4.36 +15%
Missouri 522 4.33 +15%
West Virginia 113 4.31 +14%
Georgia 962 4.23 +12%
California 3,509 4.17 +11%
Ohio 956 4.03 +7%
Indiana 534 3.80 ≈ national
Mississippi 174 3.72 ≈ national
Texas 2,718 3.38 -10%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Lily

Lily is a top-50 name for girls in the United States, ranked #18 in 2025 with 6,673 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 189,789 American babies have been named Lily. Its peak came in 2011, when 8,199 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2010s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Lily stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Lily?

The median living Lily is about 14 years old; half are between 7 and 19. An estimated 177 thousand people named Lily are alive in the United States today.

median 14 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Lily year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 6,673 #18 – –
2024 6,121 #24 – –
2023 6,176 #20 – –
2022 6,012 #30 – –
2021 5,632 #31 – –
2020 5,258 #35 5 #13,293
2019 5,461 #34 – –
2018 5,753 #31 – –
2017 5,862 #33 – –
2016 6,610 #24 – –
2015 6,683 #25 7 #10,205
2014 6,789 #27 7 #10,305
2013 7,004 #27 5 #13,287
2012 7,970 #16 12 #6,875
2011 8,192 #15 7 #10,325
2010 7,992 #17 9 #8,528
2009 8,101 #18 8 #9,536
2008 8,128 #24 9 #8,732
2007 7,499 #27 9 #8,645
2006 6,768 #33 7 #10,222
2005 6,090 #39 17 #4,949
2004 5,402 #53 21 #4,204
2003 4,434 #69 6 #10,355
2002 3,834 #79 – –
2001 3,197 #103 – –
2000 2,733 #124 – –
1995 853 #320 – –
1990 396 #584 – –
1985 243 #711 – –
1980 187 #836 – –
1975 122 #1,002 – –
1970 125 #1,002 – –
1965 94 #1,081 – –
1960 127 #948 – –
1955 165 #740 – –
1950 135 #741 – –
1945 142 #606 – –
1940 186 #509 – –
1935 210 #447 – –
1930 305 #389 – –
1925 362 #360 – –
1920 386 #331 – –
1915 343 #321 – –
1910 154 #310 – –
1905 134 #287 – –
1900 126 #292 – –
1895 101 #280 – –
1890 96 #255 – –
1885 88 #201 – –
1880 41 #241 – –

Famous people named Lily

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Lily Collins Lily Collins English and American actress (born 1989) Contemporary
  2. 2 Lily Allen Lily Allen English singer-songwriter and actress (born 1985) Contemporary
  3. 3 Lily James Lily James English actress (born 1989) Contemporary
  4. 4 Lily Tomlin Lily Tomlin American actress (born 1939) Contemporary
  5. 5 Lily Rabe Lily Rabe American actress (born 1982) Contemporary
  6. 6 Lily Aldridge Lily Aldridge American model b. 1985 · Contemporary
  7. 7 Lily Cole Lily Cole English actress, model and film director (born 1987) Contemporary
  8. 8 Lily Loveless Lily Loveless English actress (born 1990) Contemporary
  9. 9 Lily Donaldson Lily Donaldson British model (born 1987) b. 1988 · Contemporary
  10. 10 Lily Pons Lily Pons French-American operatic soprano (1898–1976) 19th century
  11. 11 Lily Carter Annual sex industry honor b. 1990 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Lily, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Lily?

The median living Lily is about 14 years old. Half of all living Lilys are between 7 and 19 years old.

How many people named Lily are alive today?

An estimated 177 thousand people named Lily are alive in the United States, based on 189,789 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Lily mean?

Lily is a feminine given name usually derived from lily, the flower.

How popular is the name Lily in 2025?

Lily ranked #18 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 6,673 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Lily?

189,789 babies have been named Lily in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Lily most popular?

Lily peaked in 2011, when 8,199 newborns received the name.

Is Lily a boy or girl name?

Lily is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Lily rising or falling?

Lily has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Lily become more popular?

Lily is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 7,399 girls named Lily in 2030, which would rank around #14. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Lily?

Well-known people named Lily include Lily Collins (actor), Lily Allen (musician), Lily James (actor).

Names like Lily

Names that sound and feel close to Lily: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Lily with similar names → More names starting with L →