Tilly
2025 SSA
About Tilly
A favorite in England and Wales where nicknames as given names are very much the norm, Tilly has the potential to catch on in the US, given its similarity to the popular Lily and Ellie and the rising stars Millie, Billie, Kallie, and Nellie.
Most often used as a nickname for the strong but lively Matilda, Tilly might also work for recently popular Ottilie. Other less obvious possibilities could be Chantilly, Talitha, Natalie, or Talia.
As a stand alone name, Tilly is cutesy but not flimsy, and in recent years, it has been racing up the US charts. Nearly doubling in usage since 2018, a recent count revealed Tilly is given to nearly 250 babies each year. When you combine this with the number of Tillies too, the figure is more like 400.
Notable Tillys include Tilly Ramsay, daughter of Gordan Ramsay, and a chef, present and influencer in her own right; Tilly Keeper, an actress in British soap Eastenders; and Tilly Edinger, a German-American paleontologist who founded paleoneurology.
Pronounced TIL-ee.
As of October 2026, Tilly ranked #885 in US births in 2025 SSA, Nameberry popularity #363.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,580 | 69 | 38.6 |
| 2015 | #2,256 | 84 | 47.1 |
| 2016 | #2,305 | 83 | 46.8 |
| 2017 | #1,862 | 110 | 63.7 |
| 2018 | #1,648 | 129 | 75.8 |
| 2019 | #1,344 | 170 | 101.3 |
| 2020 | #1,332 | 166 | 102.7 |
| 2021 | #1,133 | 218 | 132.9 |
| 2022 | #1,029 | 249 | 151.8 |
| 2023 | #1,045 | 242 | 150.8 |
| 2024 | #953 | 273 | 168.5 |
| 2025 | #885 | 302 | 187.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Tilly.
Tilly on lists
Famous Tillys
- Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine "Tilly" Losch
Countess of Carnarvon, Austrian,American dancer and actress
- Matilda "Tilly" Keeper
English actress
- Tilly Vosburgh
English actress
- Tilly O'Neill
Gordon, Canadian politician
- Tilly van der Zwaard
Dutch middle distance runner
- Matilda Mary "Tilly" Devine
English,Australian gangster and folk figure
- Matilda Emily "Tilly" Bagshawe
English novelist
- Matilda "Tilly" Ramsay (b. 2001)
daughter of TV chef Gordon Ramsay
- Tilly Jennifer Lindsay (b. 2008)
daughter of TV presenter Sally Meen & Russ Lindsay
- Tilly Elizabeth Godwin (b. 2013)
daughter of reality TV personality Britney Haynes ("Big Brother 12") and Ryan Godwin
- Jennifer and Meg Tilly
American actresses
- Clarence William "Tilly" Walker
American male baseball player
Tilly in pop culture
- Matilda "Tilly" Evans
character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
- Mathilda "Tilly" Bassett
character in Louisa May Alcott's "An Old,Fashioned Thanksgiving"
- Tilly Green
character on TV's Big City Greens
- Tilly
main character in TV's 'Tilly and Friends'
- Tilly
puppet on British children's TV series Tots TV
- Tilly
main character in Raymond Briggs' book and TV film "The Bear"
- Tilly
main character on British sitcom "Miranda"
- Tilly and the Wall
American indie rock band