Lilian

Where Lilian comes from

Used since the sixteenth century, possibly originally a pet form of Elizabeth, but generally accepted as a variant of Late Latin lilium (“lily”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Lilian
  • Latin
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #375 among girls — 19 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1882
    Peak, #360
    24 babies named Lilian — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1906
    Lilian Harvey born
    Anglo-German actress and singer
  4. 1937
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #3,146.
  5. 1972
    Lilian Thuram born
    French footballer
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin.
Namesakes
  • Lilian Thuram · French footballer, born 1972
  • Lilian Harvey · Anglo-German actress and singer, 1906–1968
  • Lilian Garcia · ring announcer and singer, born 1966
  • Lilian Calmejane · French cyclist, born 1992
  • Lilian Bach · Nigerian actress, born 1975

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.