Lillien
Feminine diminutive form of the Norman French name Lillie, derived from the Latin Lilia meaning "lily flower".
Name Census estimates that about 298 living Americans carry the first name Lillien. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lillien today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lillien births was 2007 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lillien. 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 Lillien with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
298
~ 1 in 1,150,182 Americans
Peak year
2007
20 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,467
Tracked since 1918
Census
Lillien in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 269 people with the first name Lillien, which placed it at #31,704 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
#31,704
National first-name rank
People counted
269
269 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lillien
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lillien is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Black (7.4%). 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 Lillien 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 Lillien at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.7% · 193
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 26
- Black or African American7.4% · 20
- Two or more races7.4% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Lillien: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lillien from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 152 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lillien 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 Lillien during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lillien
The name Lillien is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "lilium," meaning "lily," which refers to the beautiful and fragrant flower. The name is closely related to other names such as Lily, Lilian, and Liliana, all sharing a common root.
In ancient Roman culture, the lily flower held significant symbolism, often associated with purity, innocence, and fertility. This connection may have influenced the choice of the name Lillien for newborn daughters, as it carried positive connotations and wishes for the child's future.
While the name's exact origins are uncertain, some historians suggest that Lillien may have been used as a variant spelling or diminutive form of the more common Lilian during the Middle Ages in certain European regions. It is believed to have gained popularity in various parts of Europe, particularly in areas with linguistic influences from Latin or Romance languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lillien can be found in the 12th century, when a noblewoman named Lillien de Montfort was mentioned in historical records from France. Another notable figure bearing the name was Lillien von Trier, a German abbess who lived in the 14th century and played a significant role in the religious life of her region.
In the realm of literature, the name Lillien appears in several works, including the 19th-century novel "The Lilies of the Valley" by Honore de Balzac, where a character named Lillien represents the embodiment of innocence and purity.
Other notable individuals named Lillien throughout history include:
1. Lillien Nordica (1857-1914), an American opera singer renowned for her powerful soprano voice.
2. Lillien Phelan (1892-1970), a Canadian politician and the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
3. Lillien Jane Martin (1851-1943), an American educator and advocate for women's rights.
4. Lillien Hoddeson (1934-2022), an American physicist and historian of science.
5. Lillien Brown (1904-1998), an American jazz singer and vaudeville performer.
While the name Lillien may not be as widespread today as some of its variants, it carries a rich historical legacy and beautiful symbolism, often associated with grace, purity, and the natural beauty of the lily flower.
People
Lillien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lillien 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
Lillien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lillien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 298 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lillien 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 1,150,182 US residents.
Is Lillien a common name?
We classify Lillien as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lillien most popular?
The single biggest year for Lillien was 2007, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lillien is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lillien in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 269 people with the name Lillien, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,704 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 Lillien 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 Lillien?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lillien leans strongly female. 264 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Lillien?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lillien is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Black (7.4%). 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 Lillien most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lillien in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.7% (193 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 Lillien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lillien a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lillien 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 Lillien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lillien 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 Lillien 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 Lillien?
You can see how many people have the name Lillien on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.