Lilia
A feminine name of Spanish origin representing the lily flower.
Name Census estimates that about 11,719 living Americans carry the first name Lilia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lilia today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lilia births was 2007 (308 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lilia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lilia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 29,248 Americans
Peak year
2007
308 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
1988 SSA rank
#920
Tracked since 1884
Census
Lilia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 29,184 people with the first name Lilia, which placed it at #1,273 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,273
National first-name rank
People counted
29K
29,184 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
69.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lilia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lilia is Hispanic at 69.8%. The next largest groups are White (17.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lilia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lilia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino69.8% · 20,377
- White17.1% · 4,990
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.2% · 2,978
- Two or more races1.7% · 507
- Black or African American1.0% · 288
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 44
Gender
Gender distribution for Lilia
Out of the 14,000 babies given the name Lilia since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Lilia as a male name
- Ranked #8,030 in 1988
- 5 male births in 1988
- Peak: 1988 (5 births)
Lilia as a female name
- Ranked #920 in 2024
- 288 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (308 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lilia appears almost entirely female. Of the 29,179 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Lilia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lilia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,733 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lilia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lilia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lilia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lilias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Lilia, while Kentucky, District of Columbia, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 313 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lilia
The name Lilia has its origins in the Latin word "lilium," meaning "lily." It is a feminine variant of the masculine name Lilius or Lille. This name was particularly popular in ancient Rome, where the lily flower held symbolic significance and was associated with purity, beauty, and renewal.
During the Middle Ages, the name Lilia gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Latin and Romance languages. It was commonly used among noble families and the aristocracy, often as a nod to the lily's association with royalty and elegance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lilia can be found in the 12th century, when it was mentioned in a French text describing the life of Saint Lilia, a holy woman revered for her piety and charitable works.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lilia. One of the most famous was Lilia Ivanovna Ratkova (1881-1963), a Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik activist who played a prominent role in the October Revolution of 1917.
Another noteworthy figure was Lilia Massey (1900-1975), a British author and illustrator best known for her children's books featuring the character Bunny Rabbit. Her whimsical storytelling and charming illustrations captured the hearts of young readers worldwide.
In the world of music, Lilia Mendoza (1891-1986) was a renowned Mexican singer and composer, celebrated for her contributions to the ranchera and mariachi genres. Her powerful voice and emotive performances left an indelible mark on Mexican folk music.
The name Lilia also holds significance in the realm of science. Lilia Polonskaya (1923-2002) was a distinguished Russian mathematician and computer scientist, renowned for her groundbreaking work in mathematical logic and the theory of algorithms.
Lastly, Lilia Skala (1896-1994) was a celebrated Austrian-American actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her long and illustrious career. Her performances were widely acclaimed for their depth and emotional resonance.
The name Lilia has endured for centuries, carrying with it a rich tapestry of cultural and historical significance. From its Latin roots to its present-day usage, this name continues to evoke associations of beauty, purity, and elegance, making it a timeless choice for parents seeking a name with a captivating heritage.
People
Lilia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lilia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lilia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lilia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,719 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lilia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 29,248 US residents.
Is Lilia a common name?
We classify Lilia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,000 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lilia most popular?
The single biggest year for Lilia was 2007, when 308 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lilia is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lilia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 29,184 people with the name Lilia, or 9.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,273 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lilia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lilia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lilia appears almost entirely female. Of the 29,179 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lilia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lilia is Hispanic at 69.8%. The next largest groups are White (17.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lilia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Lilia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.8% (20,377 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lilia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lilia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lilia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Lilia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lilia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lilia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Lilia?
Want to know how many Americans are named Lilia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.