Lily: meaning and UK use

What does Lily mean?

The English flower word ultimately comes from Latin lilium. Lilly and Lillie are alternative spellings; they have their own statistical records.

Language or name family covered

English flower name

Meaning or derivation

The lily flower

Our browsing group

girl; classic, nature

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

• Behind the Name — Lily

Pronunciation and related forms

LIL-ee (English)

English respellings are approximate; IPA is labelled where used. Follow the pronunciation a person or family chooses, and check it with a speaker of the intended language if that connection matters to you.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Lilly, Lillie. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is Lily?

In 2025, 2,249 baby girls in England and Wales were registered as Lily, making it the 2nd most popular girls’ name. That is up 1 place on 2024, when it ranked 3rd. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it ranked 13th, so it has climbed 11 places in a decade. 2025 is its highest ranking in the ONS series, which starts in 1996. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (girls)

2nd

2025 registrations

2,249

Best rank in this series

2nd (2025)

Every year from 1996 to 2025

Lily: rank and number of baby girls by year (ONS)

Year	Rank	Babies
2025	2	2,249
2024	3	2,185
2023	4	2,290
2022	5	2,281
2021	7	2,182
2020	7	2,150
2019	9	2,285
2018	13	2,184
2017	10	2,405
2016	7	2,722
2015	13	2,711
2014	9	2,965
2013	12	2,883
2012	5	3,802
2011	3	4,761
2010	4	4,257
2009	8	3,967
2008	8	4,047
2007	8	4,011
2006	9	3,407
2005	16	2,871
2004	16	2,803
2003	23	2,221
2002	28	1,706
2001	35	1,368
2000	45	1,124
1999	53	1,007
1998	61	873
1997	75	721
1996	85	651

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 girls series is 75,089. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Selected hyphenated registrations starting with Lily in 2025: Lily-Rose: 65 (girls); Lily-Mae: 51 (girls); Lily-Ann: 16 (girls); Lily-May: 16 (girls). This selection includes up to four matching forms with at least ten registrations, not every compound name.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

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Names to compare with Lily

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

• Daisynature · The daisy flower
• Poppynature · The poppy flower
• Aishaclassic · Living or alive
• Ameliaclassic · A variant of Amalia
• Beatriceclassic · A form of Beatrix
• Charlotteclassic · A feminine form of Charles

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on Lily, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.