Girls' name · since 1880
Lily
189,644 babies named Lily in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2011. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
- #208 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #18 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 189,644
- born since 1880
- 2010s
- peak decade
Lily currently ranks #18 among girls' names in America, with 189,644 babies recorded since 1880.
Lily has 189,644 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #18 as of the latest data, more common than 99.9% of girls, busiest in the 2010s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #208 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #18 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 189,644 born since 1880
- 2010s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Lily ranks #208 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #18 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 189,644 born since 1880, peaking in the 2010s.
- #208 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #18 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 189,644
- born since 1880
- 2010s
- peak decade
Lily's 189,644 recorded births place it above 99.71% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.
How Lily compares
189,644 Top 2% higher than 98% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Lily's all-time total is 504x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Lily | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 189,644 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 8,192 | 21 | 19,840 |
Lily's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Splitting Lily's full recorded timeline at 1953, 93% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 7% in the earlier half -- usage has skewed toward the present, not a one-decade spike. Its quietest year on record was 1880, with just 41 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 2011 peak of 8,192 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.
Lily popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (2011)
- 8,192
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Lily popularity over time - boys
145 total births recorded since 1927 (Lily as boys' name)
Lily by decade
2010s is the heaviest window (68,316 births, 36% of the file).
2010s was Lily's strongest decade.
68,316 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 36% of all-time use.
Lily births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s 680
1880s
680 births
- 1890s 979
1890s
979 births
- 1900s 1,045
1900s
1,045 births
- 1910s 2,795
1910s
2,795 births
- 1920s 3,757
1920s
3,757 births
- 1930s 2,229
1930s
2,229 births
- 1940s 1,511
1940s
1,511 births
- 1950s 1,426
1950s
1,426 births
- 1960s 1,148
1960s
1,148 births
- 1970s 1,220
1970s
1,220 births
- 1980s 2,708
1980s
2,708 births
- 1990s 9,772
1990s
9,772 births
- 2000s
2000s
56,186 births
- 2010s
2010s
68,316 births
- 2020s
2020s
35,872 births
What this shows Peak: 2010s at 68,316 births (36% of all-time use).
How Lily compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Lily's total volume
Lily by state
Where Lily concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 21,134 | 11.1% |
| #2 | Texas | | 13,341 | 7.0% |
| #3 | New York | | 11,576 | 6.1% |
| #4 | Florida | | 9,197 | 4.8% |
| #5 | Pennsylvania | | 7,773 | 4.1% |
| #6 | Illinois | | 6,814 | 3.6% |
| #7 | Ohio | | 6,369 | 3.4% |
| #8 | Michigan | | 5,684 | 3.0% |
21,134 of 189,644 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Lily appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Lily? ▼
Where does Lily sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Lily most popular? ▼
Where is Lily most popular? ▼
How long has the name Lily been used? ▼
What names are similar to Lily? ▼
What to do with Lily's data
- Lily's usage has stayed within range of its 2010s decade-level peak (68,316 total births) through the 2020s (35,872) -- a comparatively stable name, not a fading trend.
- California records the most Lilys (21,134 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Lily
Nearby Names Like Lily
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Lily
Compare Lily side by side: Lily vs Lillian Lily vs Lillie Lily vs Lila
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Lily
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Lily: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~2011)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Lily draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.