Girls' name · peaked in 2011
Lily name popularity since 1925
182,252 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Lily. Half of them were born in 2011 or earlier, so the typical Lily is about 15 years old in 2026. Lily peaked in 2011 as the #15 name for girls, and it ranked #18 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 182,252
- Named Lily, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #18
- for girls in 2025 (6,673 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.9% girls
- 182,107 girls · 145 boys
- Most popular in
- Utah
- 2.25× its national share
Peak year is the year Lily made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Lily births per year, 1925–2025
2011 was the biggest year for Lily both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 1941 and 1946, Lily's share of baby girls fell by 43%, from 1 in 7,280 to 1 in 12,900.
- Fastest rise: Between 1994 and 1999, it became 3.3× more common, from 1 in 2,760 baby girls to 1 in 836.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Lily's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Lily.
Decade by decade
Babies named Lily in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 1,719 | 5 | – |
| 1930s | 2,229 | 5 | #447 |
| 1940s | 1,511 | 0 | #606 |
| 1950s | 1,426 | 0 | #740 |
| 1960s | 1,148 | 0 | #1,081 |
| 1970s | 1,220 | 0 | #1,002 |
| 1980s | 2,708 | 6 | #711 |
| 1990s | 9,772 | 0 | #320 |
| 2000s | 56,186 | 77 | #39 |
| 2010s | 68,316 | 47 | #25 |
| 2020–25 | 35,872 | 5 | #18 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
47.0% of babies named Lily from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Lily is most popular
The index compares Lily's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Lily.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | 2.25× | 3,457 |
| Nevada | 1.99× | 1,281 |
| Hawaii | 1.93× | 1,089 |
| Alaska | 1.85× | 497 |
| New Hampshire | 1.75× | 990 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Lily and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Lily (this page) | 182,107 | 2011 |
| Lillie | 79,821 | 1882 |
| Lilly | 59,588 | 2011 |
| Lili | 3,828 | 2003 |
| Lilli | 3,372 | 2006 |
| Lillee | 1,085 | 2010 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Lily's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Lily.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Lily (2011).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data