Lillian
Lillian is a girls' name of Latin origin meaning “lily flower, symbol of purity.” It ranked #24 in the United States in 2025. Derived from the Latin 'lilium,' the lily has been associated with purity, the Virgin Mary, and resurrection across…
how do you pronounce Lillian?
LIL-ee-un
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Lillian mean?
The name Lillian means “lily flower, symbol of purity.” It comes from the Latin language tradition.
Derived from the Latin 'lilium,' the lily has been associated with purity, the Virgin Mary, and resurrection across Christian traditions. Lillian was a fashionable name in the early 20th century and has experienced a major revival.
where does the name Lillian come from?
Most likely an elaboration of Lily, though it may equally be a variant of Elizabeth by way of the medieval Lilian. The uncertainty is genuine: the name appears in England from the sixteenth century, before the flower was commonly used as a given name.
the history of Lillian
Lillian Gish, whose career ran from the silent era to the 1980s, and Lillian Hellman, the playwright who refused to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee, gave the name two forceful twentieth-century bearers. It ranked in the American top twenty around 1900, disappeared for fifty years, and returned in the 2000s.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2024 | #24 |
| 2023 | #25 |
| 2022 | #26 |
| 2021 | #27 |
| 2020 | #28 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Lillian?
Nicknames
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Lillian?
- Lillian Gish (silent film actress)
- Lillian Hellman (playwright)
- Lily Tomlin (actress)
what names are similar to Lillian?
what names go well with Lillian?
Sibling names that share Lillian's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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