The story in the numbers

471,024 girls have been named Lillian in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1920, with 10,049 births — 0.84% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 25 → 54).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1931, and the 1920s alone account for 18%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 84 of them in the top 100 and 4 in the top 10.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,429 boys have also been given it, 0.30% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Lillian

11,270

24,106

32,519

75,914

83,159

37,393

22,314

16,508

10,607

5,363

5,389

11,229

49,392

64,948

20,913

In 1920, its biggest year

Lillian was the 18th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1920 were Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Margaret and Ruth. See all of 1920.

Names that rose and fell with Lillian

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.