Popularity of the name Lily, 1880–2025
Lily was at its most popular in 2011, when 8,192 girls were given the name: about 1 in 210 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #15. In 2025, 6,673 girls were named Lily, ranking #18. In all, Social Security counts 189,644 girls named Lily since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 145 boys named Lily.
- Peak year
- 2011
- Rank in 2011
- #15
- Babies in 2011
- 8,192
- Rank in 2025
- #18
- Total since 1880
- 189,644
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has climbed from #25 in 2015 to #18 in 2025, with 6,683 girls named Lily in 2015 and 6,673 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Lily ranked highest in the 2010s, at #22, with 68,316 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #236 in the 1880s and #29 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 41 in 1880 (#240), 126 in 1900 (#291), 386 in 1920 (#331), 186 in 1940 (#507), 127 in 1960 (#946), 187 in 1980 (#835), 2,733 in 2000 (#124) and 5,258 in 2020 (#35).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 8,192, in 2011. Its best rank, #15, came in its peak year.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Lily, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 41 | #240 |
| 1881 | 46 | #231 |
| 1882 | 63 | #214 |
| 1883 | 62 | #228 |
| 1884 | 60 | #252 |
| 1885 | 88 | #200 |
| 1886 | 75 | #237 |
| 1887 | 59 | #274 |
| 1888 | 102 | #229 |
| 1889 | 84 | #256 |
| 1890 | 96 | #254 |
| 1891 | 73 | #294 |
| 1892 | 98 | #266 |
| 1893 | 83 | #295 |
| 1894 | 108 | #263 |
| 1895 | 101 | #280 |
| 1896 | 100 | #291 |
| 1897 | 113 | #269 |
| 1898 | 92 | #325 |
| 1899 | 115 | #267 |
| 1900 | 126 | #291 |
| 1901 | 89 | #317 |
| 1902 | 99 | #315 |
| 1903 | 95 | #319 |
| 1904 | 105 | #317 |
| 1905 | 134 | #287 |
| 1906 | 82 | #376 |
| 1907 | 104 | #342 |
| 1908 | 102 | #357 |
| 1909 | 109 | #343 |
| 1910 | 154 | #310 |
| 1911 | 130 | #350 |
| 1912 | 245 | #291 |
| 1913 | 212 | #330 |
| 1914 | 252 | #330 |
| 1915 | 343 | #320 |
| 1916 | 373 | #312 |
| 1917 | 330 | #346 |
| 1918 | 388 | #326 |
| 1919 | 368 | #332 |
| 1920 | 386 | #331 |
| 1921 | 407 | #326 |
| 1922 | 418 | #317 |
| 1923 | 418 | #316 |
| 1924 | 409 | #332 |
| 1925 | 362 | #360 |
| 1926 | 344 | #362 |
| 1927 | 366 | #354 |
| 1928 | 345 | #370 |
| 1929 | 302 | #385 |
| 1930 | 305 | #389 |
| 1931 | 268 | #399 |
| 1932 | 245 | #419 |
| 1933 | 242 | #409 |
| 1934 | 216 | #441 |
| 1935 | 210 | #446 |
| 1936 | 202 | #449 |
| 1937 | 178 | #491 |
| 1938 | 195 | #475 |
| 1939 | 168 | #518 |
| 1940 | 186 | #507 |
| 1941 | 166 | #547 |
| 1942 | 173 | #562 |
| 1943 | 160 | #594 |
| 1944 | 154 | #592 |
| 1945 | 142 | #604 |
| 1946 | 122 | #732 |
| 1947 | 138 | #725 |
| 1948 | 139 | #708 |
| 1949 | 131 | #748 |
| 1950 | 135 | #741 |
| 1951 | 135 | #757 |
| 1952 | 133 | #775 |
| 1953 | 130 | #806 |
| 1954 | 144 | #780 |
| 1955 | 165 | #738 |
| 1956 | 159 | #782 |
| 1957 | 149 | #832 |
| 1958 | 149 | #833 |
| 1959 | 127 | #929 |
| 1960 | 127 | #946 |
| 1961 | 128 | #956 |
| 1962 | 120 | #974 |
| 1963 | 123 | #953 |
| 1964 | 133 | #904 |
| 1965 | 94 | #1,079 |
| 1966 | 112 | #960 |
| 1967 | 96 | #1,060 |
| 1968 | 99 | #1,056 |
| 1969 | 116 | #1,003 |
| 1970 | 125 | #997 |
| 1971 | 124 | #1,003 |
| 1972 | 139 | #901 |
| 1973 | 102 | #1,104 |
| 1974 | 107 | #1,089 |
| 1975 | 122 | #998 |
| 1976 | 133 | #956 |
| 1977 | 107 | #1,160 |
| 1978 | 111 | #1,150 |
| 1979 | 150 | #964 |
| 1980 | 187 | #835 |
| 1981 | 223 | #741 |
| 1982 | 208 | #783 |
| 1983 | 206 | #774 |
| 1984 | 223 | #732 |
| 1985 | 243 | #711 |
| 1986 | 292 | #632 |
| 1987 | 309 | #623 |
| 1988 | 400 | #546 |
| 1989 | 417 | #544 |
| 1990 | 396 | #584 |
| 1991 | 474 | #501 |
| 1992 | 523 | #473 |
| 1993 | 557 | #449 |
| 1994 | 648 | #390 |
| 1995 | 853 | #320 |
| 1996 | 1,091 | #261 |
| 1997 | 1,355 | #219 |
| 1998 | 1,752 | #169 |
| 1999 | 2,123 | #152 |
| 2000 | 2,733 | #124 |
| 2001 | 3,197 | #103 |
| 2002 | 3,834 | #79 |
| 2003 | 4,434 | #69 |
| 2004 | 5,402 | #53 |
| 2005 | 6,090 | #39 |
| 2006 | 6,768 | #33 |
| 2007 | 7,499 | #27 |
| 2008 | 8,128 | #24 |
| 2009 | 8,101 | #18 |
| 2010 | 7,992 | #17 |
| 2011 | 8,192 | #15 |
| 2012 | 7,970 | #16 |
| 2013 | 7,004 | #27 |
| 2014 | 6,789 | #27 |
| 2015 | 6,683 | #25 |
| 2016 | 6,610 | #24 |
| 2017 | 5,862 | #33 |
| 2018 | 5,753 | #31 |
| 2019 | 5,461 | #34 |
| 2020 | 5,258 | #35 |
| 2021 | 5,632 | #31 |
| 2022 | 6,012 | #30 |
| 2023 | 6,176 | #20 |
| 2024 | 6,121 | #24 |
| 2025 | 6,673 | #18 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.