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Lily

English flower name
"lily"
Madison Dresler
By Madison Dresler
Updated Mon Sep 02 2024

Lily Origin and Meaning

The name Lily is a girl's name of English origin meaning "lily".

Lily is the most popular of the popular delicate century-old flower names now making a return, thanks to its many irresistible attributes: a cool elegance and a lovely sound, a symbol of purity and innocence, and a role in Christian imagery.

Lily's use as a given name was a direct influence of the flower. The floral name was derived from the Latin lilium, itself derived from the Greek leirion. Lily later became an adjective to describe whiteness and purity.

Lily is a favorite of celebrity parents, including Chris O'Donnell, Kate Beckinsale, Greg Kinnear, Fred Savage, and Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis (who made it a double bouquet, with Lily-Rose). The more proper Lillian is also rising in popularity, though Lily has long stood on its own.

Lily is an authors' favorite, some notable example being Lily Bart, the main character of Edith Wharton's House of Mirth, Lily Owens in The Secret Life of Bees and both mother and daughter of Harry Potter. Other current bearers are Lily Tomlin, singer Lily Allen, and actress Lily James. Two one-time starbaby Lilys are now celebrities on their own: Lily Collins, daughter of Phil, and Lily Rabe, daughter of Jill Clayburgh and David Rabe.

Lily is currently quite popular throughout the English-speaking world as well as in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and other European countries. Other possible spellings are Lilly, Lili, and Lillie.

# 20 in the US

Lily Rank in US Top 1000

# 63 on Nameberry

Lily Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Lily Popularity

Famous People Named Lily

  • Mary Jean "Lily" TomlinAmerican actress and comedian
  • Lily Jane CollinsBritish,American actress and model; daughter of singer Phil Collins
  • Lily Maud AldridgeAmerican supermodel
  • Lily Rose Beatrice AllenEnglish singer
  • Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson "Lily James"English actress
  • Lily Luahana ColeEnglish model
  • Lily May LovelessEnglish actress
  • Lily Monica DonaldsonEnglish model
  • Lily RabeAmerican actress
  • Susan Mary "Lily" YeatsIrish embroiderer
  • Lily YehChinese artist
  • Lily Camille McMenamyEnglish model and actress
  • Lily Omundsondaughter of actor Timothy Omundson
  • Lily Fraser (b. 1989)daughter of actors Hugh Fraser and Belinda Lang
  • Lily Grace Atkinson (b. 1995)daughter of actor Rowan Atkinson
  • LilyMae Evans, English actress
  • Lily Platt (b. 1995)daughter of actor Oliver Platt
  • Lily Armstrong (b. 1996)daughter of actor Curtis Armstrong
  • Lily "Remy" Weinstein (b. 1997)daughter of film producer Harvey Weinstein and Eve Chilton
  • Lily Moore (b. 1998)daughter of guitarist Gary Moore
  • Lily Anne O'Donnell (b. 1999)daughter of actor Chris O'Donnell
  • LilyRose Melody Depp (b. 1999), daughter of actor Johnny Depp and model Vanessa Paradis
  • Lily Mo BeckinsaleSheen (b. 1999), daughter of actors Kate Beckinsale and Michael Sheen
  • Lily Cye Coleman (b. 2000)daughter of composer Cy Coleman
  • Lily Pearl Black (b. 2001)daughter of singer Clint Black and actress Lisa Hartman Black
  • LilyRose Purcell (b. 2003), daughter of actor Dominic Purcell; twin brother Augustus
  • Lily Dolores Harris (b. 2003)daughter of actors Ed Harris and Amy Madigan
  • Lily Margaret Brant (b. 2004)daughter of model Stephanie Seymour and Peter Brant
  • Lily Katherine Kinnear (b. 2004)daughter of actor Greg Kinnear
  • LilyRose Womack (b. 2005), daughter of actors Mark Womack and Samantha Janus
  • LilyRose Chabal (b. 2005), daughter of rugby player Sebastien Chabal
  • Lily Aster Gottfried (b. 2007)daughter of American comedian Gilbert Gottfried
  • Lily Aerin Savage (b. 2008)daughter of actor Fred Savage
  • Lily Greenfield (b. 2009)daughter of actor Max Greenfield
  • Lily Hannigan (b. 2010)daughter of actress Pia Miranda and singer Luke Hannigan of Lo,Tel
  • Lily Bloom Iero (b. 2010)daughter of musician Frank Iero; twin of Cherry
  • Lily Abigail Brandt (b. 2010)daughter of country music singer Paul Brandt
  • Lily Bennington (b. 2011)daughter of singer Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and model Talinda Bennington; twin sister Lila
  • Lily Rose Gagné (b. 2011)daughter of ice hockey player Simon Gagné
  • Lily Tergesen (b. 2012)daughter of actor Lee Tergesen
  • Lily Christina Lloyd (b. 2012)daughter of actor Gareth David,Lloyd
  • Lily Georgina Walker (b. 2013)daughter of television personality Brooke Anderson
  • Lily Forsberg (b. 2014)daughter of ice hockey player Peter Forsberg
  • Lily Grace Victoria Rothschild (b. 2016)daughter of TV personality Nicky Hilton and James Rothschild

Lily in Pop Culture

  • Lily Briscoecharacter in Virginia Woolf's 'To The Lighthouse'
  • Lily Evans Pottermother of Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series
  • Lily Luna Potterdaughter of Harry Potter
  • Lily Moonoriginal name of Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood
  • Lily Chencharacter in Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal Instruments"
  • Lily Moscovitzcharacter in The Princess Diaries
  • Lily Aldrincharacter on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"
  • Lily Catherine Hue Magnumdaughter of the title character in TV's "Magnum"
  • Lily/Summer Robinsoncharacter in "The Cellar" by Natasha Preston
  • Lily Sloanecharacter in movie "Star Trek: First Contact"
  • Princess Lilycharacter in "Princess of the Midnight Ball" by Jessica Day George
  • Princess Lilycharacter in "Entwined" by Heather Dixon
  • Lilythe white cat from Kiki's Delivery Service
  • Lily Bartmain character in Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth"
  • Lily Munstervampire character on TV's "The Munsters"
  • Lily GoldenblattCharlotte's daughter on TV's "Sex and the City"
  • Lily TuckerPritchett, daughter of Cam and Mitch on TV's "Modern Family"
  • Lillian "Lily" Celia BassSerena's mother on TV's "Gossip Girl"
  • Lily Chandlycharacter in "The Basic Eight" by Daniel Handler
  • Lily Lustercharacter in 2012 film "Passion Play"
  • Lillian "Lily" Salvatorecharacter on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
  • Lilyemployee in the AT&T commercials
  • Lilymain character in 1982 film "Bayou Romance"
  • Lillian "Lily" Prescottcharacter on TV's "Hannah Montana" played by Emily Osment
  • Lily Roe Scottdaughter of Karen Roe and Keith Scott, sister to Lucas Scott on TV's "One Tree Hill"
  • Lily Bowencharacter in video game 'Fallout: New Vegas'
  • Lily Mercycharacter in movie "Montana Sky"
  • Panther Lilycharacter in manga/anime 'Fairy Tail'
  • Lily Calloway Halecharacter in Krista and Becca Ritchie's Addicted Series
  • Lily Louda character from the Nickelodeon cartoon "The Loud House"
  • Lilysister of Jonas in Lois Lowry's "The Giver"
  • Lily Steincharacter in DC Universe
  • Lily Summerscharacter on TV's "Switched at Birth" played by Rachel Shenton
  • Lily Saylorcharacter in movie "I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House" played by Ruth Wilson
  • Lilya Japanese Vocaloid.
  • Lilya frog villager from “Animal Crossing”

Lily in Nameberry Blog Posts