Lilian
- Pronunciation
- [Li-li-an]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Lily
- Origin
- Romanian
About the Name Lilian
Lilian is a modern English spelling variant of Lillian (see separate entry on Lillian for the Latin lilium etymology — referring to the lily flower as a Christian symbol of purity and the Virgin Mary). The single-L Lilian spelling is essentially a 20th-21st century American/European variant.
The various spellings (Lilian, Lillian, Liliane, Liliana) are tracked separately by SSA and represent the same underlying Latin name family. The Lilian spelling specifically appeals to parents seeking a sleeker form than the historical Lillian. Notable contemporary bearers include American basketball player Lilian Thuram (the iconic French former soccer player); the contemporary fictional Lilian of various contemporary novels; and various contemporary American social media influencers.
Lilian's American climb is recent: the name climbed from outside the US top 1000 in 2010 to the US top 300 girls' rank by 2018 and the top 300 since. The name has been driven by the broader 21st-century vintage-revival wave. The name's appeal sits in three contemporary American naming preferences: the in-built Latin-Christian-flower pedigree, the popular three-syllable -lian ending family (Lilian, Killian, Italian), and the modern visual presence. Three flowing syllables, soft consonants, and tonal warmth distinctive to vintage-revival names. The name reads as both classical-Latin and contemporary American. Common nicknames Lily (the dominant warm short form, casual and warm — also a popular standalone name on its own), Lil, Lia (back-end shortening), and the rare Liana each carry distinct registers; the alternate spellings Lilian, Lillian (the more popular American form), Liliana, Lilianne (French), and Lilliana have their own SSA tracking. International forms include Lillian (English alternate), Liliana (Italian/Spanish), Lilianne (French), and the broader Lily/Lillian/Lilith family.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Lilian
US Popularity History (2000–2025)
Annual US births named Lilian by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2007 with 786 girls named Lilian (girl rank #417 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #560 for girls (537 US births). That's 143 places below its 2007 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Lilian Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Lilian the strongest states are Connecticut, Nebraska, Iowa.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | #395 | 25 |
| 2 | Nebraska | #418 | 23 |
| 3 | Iowa | #431 | 41 |
| 4 | Nevada | #459 | 20 |
| 5 | Kansas | #485 | 44 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | #497 | 106 |
| 7 | Virginia | #499 | 154 |
| 8 | Colorado | #501 | 103 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | #506 | 95 |
| 10 | Illinois | #513 | 203 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | #804 | 30 |
| 2 | North Carolina | #723 | 127 |
| 3 | Georgia | #720 | 137 |
| 4 | Florida | #719 | 211 |
| 5 | Louisiana | #717 | 49 |
| 6 | New York | #689 | 226 |
| 7 | Indiana | #676 | 94 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | #656 | 145 |
| 9 | New Jersey | #653 | 100 |
| 10 | Oregon | #648 | 34 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Lilian in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Looking for names like Lilian?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Lilian to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Lilian against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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