Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Lillian?
Births per year, rank history and how many Lillians are alive today.
Lillian (female) is an uncommon spelling of the girls' name Lilian in England and Wales, ranked 361st in 2025 with 119 babies given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1904, when around 970 babies were given the name, the 66th most popular that year. It has declined since 1904; the 2025 figure is roughly 12% of its peak. Numbers have been stable in recent years. At least 36,000 babies have been named Lillian in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Common short forms of Lillian include Lily, Lilly and Lili.
Across all spellings of the name, the Lilian you are most likely to meet is around 89 years old - or else around 10: the name has two living generations. Half of all Lilians born in England and Wales are between 37 and 85, and there are at least 23,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 7% chance that at least one of them will be called Lilian.
How many babies are named Lillian each year?
Includes all spellings: Lillian, Lilian. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Lillian spelling rank?
Where does the Lilian spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Lillian most popular?
The most popular form of the name, Lilian, peaked in 1904, when around 7,100 babies in England and Wales were given the name. The Lillian spelling itself peaked in 1904, with around 970 babies.
How many people are called Lillian?
At least 23,000 people named Lillian in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Lillian?
Most living Lillians are between 37 and 85; the most common age is about 89. There is a second cluster around 10.
Is Lillian becoming more or less popular?
Well past its peak: today's figures are a fraction of the 1904 peak, though numbers have levelled off in recent years.