Lily

Lily meaning

Lily is an international girl's name of English origin (from Latin).

The lily flower; Old English lilie, from Latin lilium

Also used to mean: purity

Lily is the English name of the flower, used as a girl's name since the nineteenth century, and also an old pet form of Elizabeth. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces it through Old English lilie to Latin lilium and Greek leirion, possibly borrowed from an older eastern Mediterranean word. English Bibles use "lily" for the Hebrew shoshanna and the Greek krinon, as in the "lilies of the field" in the Gospels, and from the 1500s the word also meant white, pure and lovely. For Indian families the name sits close to Leela and Lila, though the roots are different. It is said LIL-ee.

Source: Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com) · entry lily · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Online Etymology Dictionary, lily · Lewis & Short, lilium (Logeion)

Popularity abroad

• #18 United States, girls 2025 (up 6 from 24 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #2 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Lily · Lilly · Lillie · Lili

Related names

Also meaning flower

Also starting with Lil-

More names of Latin origin

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