Lilian - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 3 syll. li-lian, lil-i-an ] The girl name Lilian is also used as a boy name, though it is far more popular for girls. It is pronounced LIHLiyahN or LIHLYahN ^KEY. Lilian has its origins in the Latin and English languages. It is used largely in English, French, and German. The name could have evolved from Lili, a form of Elizabeth. It is often associated with the names Lily and Anne, but Lily was used only from the 19th century. The name Lilian was, however, first adopted by English speakers in the late 16th century; the Italian Liliana was used somewhat earlier. The name saw boost in popularity in the late 19th century, probably from its association with Lily during the vogue for flower names. See Lilian for more info.

The name Lilian is used to a great extent; it has 46 forms that are used in both English and foreign languages. English forms of the name include Lena (used in German, Russian, Scandinavian, Polish, and Spanish as well), Lila (used in Indian as well), Lili (used in German, Russian, and Dutch as well), Lilia (used in Hawaiian, Italian, and Spanish as well), Liliam, Liliana (used in German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, and Czech as well), Liliane (used in French as well), Lilla, Lilli (used in German and Estonian as well), Lilliah, Lilliam, Lilliana, Lillie, Lillieana, Lilly, Lilyana (used in Slavic as well), and Lilyanne. Other English forms include the short forms Lil and Lillia, the pet forms Liana (used in French, German, Italian, and Portuguese as well) and Lily, and the spelling variant Lillian.

Forms of Lilian used in foreign languages include the Hungarian Boske, the Hungarian Bozsi, the Russian Leka, the Russian Lelya, the Czech, Polish, and Russian Lenka, the German Lieschen, the German Liesel, the Latvian Lilana, the Hawaiian Lileana, the Scottish Lileas, the French Lilianne, the Scottish and Spanish Lilias, the Slavic Lilijana, the Hungarian Lilike, the Spanish Liliosa, the Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian Liliya, the Slavic Liljana, the Scottish Lillas, the Scottish Lillias, the Finnish Lilya, the Portuguese Lílian, the Slavic Ljiljana, the Russian and Ukrainian Olena, and the Russian and Polish Olenka.

Lilian is an English and French form of the English Lily.

See also the related forms, the English Elizabeth and the English, French, and German Anne.

Lilian is rather popular as a baby girl name, and it is also perceived as rather trendy. The name has been rising in popularity since the 1990s. At the modest peak of its usage in 2007, 0.037% of baby girls were named Lilian. It was #417 in rank then. In 2008, it ranked at #435 with a usage of 0.035%. Out of the family of girl names directly related to Lilian, the English Elizabeth was the most regularly used. It was 16 times more commonly used than Lilian in 2008. Lilian has primarily been a girl name in the last century.

Baby names that sound like Lilian include the English Lillian, the Portuguese Lílian, the Arabic Lamya, the English Lanay, the English Lawana, the English Lealani, the English Leanna, the Irish Leannan, the English Leannie, the English Leilani, the Hawaiian Leinani, the English Lelani, the English Lelonni, the Russian Lenia, the Greek Lenio, the English Leoline, the English Leoma, the English and German Leona, the German Leoni, and the English Leonna.

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