Lily is having a proper moment in Britain. According to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), Lily climbed into the top 3 girls' names in England and Wales for the first time in years, knocking Isla off the podium in 2024. Over the Irish Sea, it's gone even further: according to the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO), Lily took the number one spot for girls in the Republic of Ireland in 2025, the first time it has ever held first place there. Floral names are everywhere right now, and Lily, the gentlest and most familiar of them, is leading the bouquet.
So if you're thinking about it for your daughter, here's everything worth knowing, from what it actually means to why the British royal family loves it.
What does the name Lily mean?
The flower. That's the short answer.
Lily comes directly from the Latin word lilium, which is the Latin name for the lily flower itself. Trace it back further and you get to the Ancient Greek word leirion, which referred specifically to the white Madonna lily (Lilium candidum), one of the most ancient cultivated flowers in the Mediterranean world. The name and the flower have been the same word for thousands of years.
But because of what the lily has meant across so many cultures, the name carries far more than just botany. It has come to stand for purity, innocence, beauty, rebirth, and quiet grace. Calling a girl Lily is, in a quiet way, wishing all of that for her.
Where does the name Lily come from?
From the flower, which is older than almost anything else we still talk about by its first name. The Madonna lily has been cultivated and admired for at least 4,000 years. The Ancient Egyptians wore lily perfume. The Minoan civilisation of Bronze Age Crete (roughly 3000–1100 BC) painted lilies on the walls of the Palace of Knossos. The Ancient Greeks had a beautiful myth about how the white lily came to be: according to legend, the flower sprang up from drops of milk that fell to earth when the goddess Hera, queen of the Olympian gods, was nursing the infant Heracles (Hercules). That's where the name "Madonna lily" really originates: long before Christianity, the lily was already the flower of the mother goddess.
Then Christianity adopted the lily as its own. In Christian art, the white lily became the symbol of the Virgin Mary, of purity, and of the Annunciation. You'll see it in almost every medieval painting where the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary, a single white lily, always present. The Bible mentions lilies several times, most famously in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 6:28): "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin." That single line has been quoted for two thousand years.
But Lily as an actual first name for girls? That's surprisingly recent. People did use it occasionally in earlier centuries, sometimes as a pet form of Elizabeth or Lillian, sometimes inspired by the flower, but it didn't really take off as a standalone name until the Victorian era (1837–1901), when flower names suddenly became the height of fashion in Britain. Daisy, Rose, Violet, Iris, Pansy and Lily all bloomed at once. Lily, the gentlest of the lot, has outlasted most of them.
Is Lily short for anything?
It can be, but it doesn't have to be. This is one of the most common questions parents ask, so it's worth answering clearly.
Lily can stand entirely on its own. Plenty of British parents put exactly "Lily" on the birth certificate and that's the end of it. But it's also traditionally been used as a short form for longer names, particularly Lillian, Liliana, Lilith, and (a bit more loosely) Elizabeth. The connection to Elizabeth runs through the name "Lilibet," the famous childhood nickname of Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022), which the late Queen used among her closest family. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, later chose Lilibet for their daughter, born in 2021. So if you fancy a longer formal name with Lily as the everyday version, you've got plenty of options.
Is Lily a biblical name?
Not as a personal name, no. There is no character called Lily in the Bible. But the flower itself appears multiple times, always with positive symbolism. The "lilies of the field" passage in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 6:28) is the most famous. The Song of Solomon (Song of Solomon 2:1–2) describes the beloved as "a lily among thorns." And Christian tradition links the white lily to the Virgin Mary, to Easter (the Easter lily symbolises resurrection), and to several saints. So while Lily isn't a name from scripture, it's deeply embedded in the Christian symbolic tradition. Many religious families pick it for exactly that reason.
Why is the lily a royal flower in Britain?
This is one of the lovely under-told stories about the name.
The variety called lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) has been a British royal favourite for generations. It was the favourite flower of Queen Elizabeth II, who carried it in her own wedding bouquet at her marriage to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. She continued to love it her entire life. When Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attended the late Queen's state funeral in September 2022, she wore a coat dress secretly embroidered with lily of the valley as a tribute.
The connection runs deeper too. When Catherine, Princess of Wales (Kate Middleton, b. 1982) married Prince William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982) at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011, her famous wedding bouquet, designed by Northern Irish florist Shane Connolly (b. 1962), was dominated by lily of the valley. The flower symbolises "the return of happiness" in the Victorian language of flowers, which is why it has become such a meaningful choice for royal brides. Catherine's bouquet has been compared many times to the one carried by Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco (1929–1982) at her wedding to Prince Rainier III on 19 April 1956, which was also largely composed of lily of the valley.
So while Lily the name and lily of the valley aren't quite the same flower (lily of the valley is technically a different plant species, despite the name), the British royal romance with everything lily-shaped quietly raises the name's whole standing in the United Kingdom.
And then there's the fleur-de-lis
The other royal hook for Lily is French. The famous fleur-de-lis, that stylised three-petalled symbol you see on French royal coats of arms, on the Quebec flag, on the New Orleans Saints helmet, and on countless emblems worldwide, is technically a stylised lily. (Some historians argue it was originally an iris, but the term itself means "flower of the lily" in French, and it has been called that for over a thousand years.) The Capetian kings of France (987–1328) and their successors carried the fleur-de-lis as their personal emblem from at least the 12th century until the French Revolution in 1789. So Lily has a quiet thread of medieval European royalty running through it too.
How popular is Lily in the UK?
Right at the top. According to the Office for National Statistics, Lily was the 3rd most popular girls' name in England and Wales in 2024, having just bumped Isla off the podium. It's been comfortably in the UK top 10 since the early 2000s, occasionally climbing into the top 5, and now finally breaking into the top 3.
Across the Irish Sea, it's even more dominant. In the Central Statistics Office of Ireland's official 2025 baby name rankings, Lily was the number one girls' name in the Republic of Ireland for the first time ever, climbing from 6th place the year before. So in the British Isles right now, you're looking at one of the genuinely top-tier girls' names.
Famous people called Lily
A properly varied list, and getting longer every year. The British contingent leads the way.
There's the British singer-songwriter Lily Allen (b. 1985), who became one of the defining British voices of the 2000s with hits like "Smile" (2006) and "The Fear" (2009). The British actress Lily James (b. 1989), who you've seen in Downton Abbey, the 2015 live-action Cinderella, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), and Yesterday (2019). The British-American actress Lily Collins (b. 1989) of Netflix's Emily in Paris fame (and daughter of musician Phil Collins). The American comedy legend Lily Tomlin (b. 1939), whose career has spanned six decades. The British model and actress Lily Cole (b. 1988). The American novelist Lily King (b. 1963).
And on the fictional side, the most famous Lily of all in the British imagination is Lily Potter, née Lily J. Evans, the mother of Harry Potter in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series (1997–2007). Lily Evans became one of the most beloved characters in modern children's literature precisely because her love and sacrifice are at the heart of the entire series. For a whole generation of British readers who grew up with the books, the name Lily carries a particular kind of warmth because of her.
There's also Lily Bart, the protagonist of The House of Mirth (1905) by American novelist Edith Wharton (1862–1937). Lily Aldrin from the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014). Lily Munster from the 1960s American sitcom The Munsters. The name shows up everywhere in popular culture, and almost always attached to a character people warm to instantly.
What are the nicknames for Lily?
Lily is already short and sweet, so most families just use it in full. But if you fancy something even more affectionate, the natural ones are Lil, Lils, and Lilybelle. Some families use Lilypad for very small children, which is unbearably cute.
Compound forms like Lily-Rose, Lily-May, Lily-Mae, and Lily-Anne are all increasingly popular too. French actress Vanessa Paradis (b. 1972) and American actor Johnny Depp (b. 1963) famously named their daughter Lily-Rose Depp (b. 1999), now an actress in her own right, and the compound form has been climbing in popularity ever since.
How do you pronounce Lily?
LIL-ee. Two syllables. Stress on the first. Easy in almost any language. It's also one of the most internationally portable girls' names you can pick.
What are the different spellings of Lily?
Several, all perfectly valid. The most common spellings are Lily (the classic), Lilly (an alternative that's almost as popular), Lillie, and Lili. They're all pronounced the same way and are essentially interchangeable. Lily is the most common spelling in the United Kingdom, while Lilly is slightly more common in some American states.
Does Lily work in other languages?
Beautifully. The variants are some of the loveliest you'll find in any name list. In French it's Lili or Liliane. In German, Lilli or Lili. In Italian, Lilia or Liliana. In Spanish, Lilia or Liliana. In Polish, Lilianna. In Hungarian, Lili or Liliána. In Russian, Liliya. In Welsh, Lili. In Croatian, Ljiljana. In Icelandic and Faroese, Lilja. Lily and its variants stretch right across Europe and beyond. It's a genuine global name.
What names go well with Lily?
Lily is short enough to pair easily with most middle names. Popular combinations in Britain include Lily Rose, Lily Mae, Lily Grace, Lily Belle, Lily Faith, Lily Anne, Lily May, Lily Hope, and Lily Charlotte. Two-syllable middle names tend to flow especially nicely with Lily. For sibling names, Lily sits beautifully alongside Daisy, Rose, Violet, Ivy, Poppy, Florence, Olivia, Isla, and Freya, all the other lovely British girls' names of the moment.
So is Lily a good name?
That's only ever your call. But the honest summary is this.
It's short, soft, easy to spell, and lovely to say. It means the flower itself, with thousands of years of symbolism behind it: purity, beauty, rebirth, royal weddings, ancient Greek mythology, Christian iconography, Easter mornings, Lily Potter, Catherine, Princess of Wales' wedding bouquet, and the Virgin Mary's whole tradition. It works on a tiny baby and a great-grandmother equally well. It travels beautifully across languages. It nicknames easily without needing to. And it's currently one of the most popular girls' names in both England and Ireland.
One small flower. A thousand years of meaning. And a name that has quietly carried all of it.
You could do an awful lot worse.
