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The first name 
Lillian

Lillian is a female first name. In very rare cases it is also used for boys.

The name Lillian is very popular!

The first name Lillian is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #28 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Lillian, accounting for approximately 0.40 % of all newborn girls. In total, there are currently 391,695 people – children, adults and seniors – named Lillian living in the United States, which is approximately 0.12 % of the entire population.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Lillian

What does the name 
Lillian mean?

Lillian is derived from the Latin word “Lilium” meaning “lily (flower)” and is a variation of the name Lily. Lily flowers are often associated with concepts of love, purity and innocence. Lillian might also be a diminutive of the name Elizabeth meaning “My God is abudance” or “My God is an oath”.

In Western society… lilies are symbols of Christian faith: the Madonna lily is associated with the Virgin Mary and the Easter lily is a symbol for Easter, the Christian holiday for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Lillian is a name shared by several famous people

First Lady of American Cinema

Lillian Diana Gish (1893 - 1993)
With her film-acting career spanning 75 years, American actress, director, screenwriter Lillian Diana Gish was rightfully called The First Lady of American Cinema. She was a prominent film star of the silent era. In fact, Gish starred in D. W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation (1915), the highest grossing movie of that time. Other well-known titles include Intolerance (1916) and La Boh魥 (1921). In 1971, she received the Academy Honorary Award for her achievements in acting.

Author and activist

Lillian Eugenia Smith (1897 - 1966)
In a time when open criticisms of segregation resulted in social ostracism, Lillian Eugenia Smith was unafraid to both be a political activist and to use her writing as a means toward the dismantling of the so called Jim Crow laws. Her most known work Strange Fruit (1944), a novel about interracial romance, was banned from being mailed via the United States Postal Service after its debut until First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt intervened on Smith's behalf.

Olympic champion

Lillian Copeland (1904 - 1964)
Lillian Copeland was an American Olympic champion that has been called the most successful female discus thrower in U.S. history. Next to discus she was also proficient in javelin throwing and shot put. She set several world records and won silver at the 1928s Olympics in Amsterdam and gold in Los Angeles in 1932. Until 2008, she was the only American woman to win the discus throw in an Olympic setting.

Nurse and Humanitarian

Lillian D. Wald (1867 - 1940)
This American nurse was known for her humanitarian work and as the founder of American community nursing. In 1893, Lillian D. Wald founded The Henry Street Settlement, an organization dedicated to providing equal and fair health care regardless of its recipients social status, race, gender, or age. Wald campaigned for womens suffrage and was a staunch advocate for racial integration. In fact, she insisted that all nursing classes provided by her services be integrated.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Lillian, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Lillian? Are you also called Lillian? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

Lillian...

is the name for several cities and town in the United States of America: There is a Lillian in Alabama, West Virginia, and Nebraska.

To refresh yourself...

you can swim in several Lake Lillians in der USA. For example, Lake Lillian in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota was named after the wife of artist Edwin Whitefield.

Lillian -
a popular traditional name in the U.S.

History tends to focus on the most famous and best. But even those who play second fiddle leave their mark: Lillian is one of those names without which the orchestra would be incomplete. In fact, Lillian has reached the SmartGenius top ranking #10 more than once, although the last time was some while ago, way back in the last century in 1901. But even though the peak of its popularity was many decades ago, the name Lillian has been given to newborn girls every year since records began. Lillian is of exceptional enduring popularity, conveying the special vibes of the20th century.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Lillian was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

Lillian has arrived in the 21st century

The popularity of the name Lillian peaked long ago, but the name has nevertheless arrived in the 21st century. In 2022, it ranked #48 in our statistics - perhaps a far cry from when your grandparents or great-grandparents were kids and Lillian made it into the top ten more than once, but still: traditional names often prove to be perennial favorites - so, maybe it's only a matter of time before Lillian tops out again.

Lillian -
at home all over the USA, especially popular in Rhode Island

Wherever you go, wherever you live – there’s a good chance to meet Lillian. Because: There are women and girls named Lillian in every state in the USA. This may sound quite unspectacular at first, but in fact, of the more than 50,000 different female first names that occur in the USA, just 537 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Lillian is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 100 of the most popular female first names, for example in Hawaii, where Lillian ranks on place 49. The greatest chance of meeting Lillian, however, is in Rhode Island, where one in 230 girls and women bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 394 women and girls and in California, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 813 women and girls for their name before you once get Lillian as an answer.

Lillian has 7 letters 
and begins with an L

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter L is a particularly popular initial letter for girls' names – 6.8% of all common girls’ names in the US begin with this letter. By the way, the most common first letters for girls’ names are A and S.

With seven letters, the name Lillian has a typical length for first names in the US. In fact, 26% of all common first names consist of exactly seven letters. 52% of all first names are shorter, while 22% have eight letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that with 6.8% of all girls' names that begin with an L, this first letter is much more common than the other letters on average. If you are now wondering which girls' name with L is the most common... the answer is Linda.

Other names with 
L, i, l, l, i, a and n

If you take all the letters in the name Lillian – L, i, l, l, i, a and n – and put them together again, you can form another name, such as Lillain.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Lillian

If your name is Lillian and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Lillian

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Lillian, you can simply say:

Lion

Igloo

Lion

Lion

Igloo

Apple

Nut

This is how the name Lillian is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Lillian in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Lillian

Lillian

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Lillian

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Lillian is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

L
I
L
L
I
A
N

Have you ever waved the name Lillian

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

L
I
L
L
I
A
N

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Lillian sounds like this: