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 [ 2 syll. li-ly, lil-y ] The girl name Lily is pronounced as LIHLiy KEY. Lily is mainly used in English, and its language of origin is Latin and English. Latin and English origin: From the elements 'lily' ; 'lilium' lily. The first name is derived from the flower name, which is ultimately of the Latin 'ilium'. The flower is a symbol of purity associated with the Virgin Mary, and it is also well-known from a verse in the Sermon on the Mount to 'consider the lilies of the field'. A later source of the name could be the German name Lilli, which is itself from Elizabeth. The first name Lily was widely adopted by English speakers in the mid-19th century amidst the enthusiasm for flower and plant names. Its popularity saw another boost from the song Lily of Laguna (1898), performed by Eugene Stratton and G H Elliott. The name gradually fell into decline by the mid-20th century, due to a growing perception then that it was becoming old-fashioned. In recent times, it has become more popular again. Lily has 18 variations that are used in both English and other languages. English variations of Lily include Lila (used in Indian too), Lilia (used in Hawaiian, Italian, and Spanish too), Lilith (used in Arabic and Hebrew too), Lilla, Lillah, Lilli (used in German and Estonian too), and Lillia. Other English forms include the pet forms Lil, Lillie, and Lilly, and the spelling variants Lili (used in German, Russian, and Dutch too) and Lillee. Variations of Lily used in other languages include the Hungarian Lilike, the Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian Liliya, the Scandinavian Lilja, and the Irish Líle. The spelling variant Lylli (Finnish) is another foreign form. In addition, Lily is a pet form of the English, French, and German name Lilian in the English language. See also the related form, the English Lilyanne. Lily is very popular as a baby name for girls, and it is also regarded as trendy. The name has been increasing in popularity since the 1970s. At the modest height of its usage in 2008, 0.391% of baby girls were named Lily. It ranked at #24 then. Within all girl names in its group, Lily was the most popular in 2008. Lily was thrice as popular as the 2nd most popular name, the English Lilly, in that year. Baby names that sound like Lily include the German, Russian, English, and Dutch Lili, the English Lillee, the German, English, and Estonian Lilli, the English Lillie, the English Lilly, the Catalan Laia, the Arabic, English, German, and Iranian Laila, the Czech Lala, the Arabic and English Layla, the English, Hebrew, and Yiddish Leah, the English and Indian Leela, the Hawaiian Lehua, the English Leia, the English Leiah, the Arabic, English, German, and Iranian Leila, the Arabic, English, German, and Iranian Leilah, the Slavic Lejla, the Spanish and English Lela, the English Lelah, and the Greek and Italian Lelia. KEY: Pronunciation for Lily: L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)"   |
