Lily
Meaning of Lily
Lily—pronounced LIL-ee in most English gardens and LEE-lee when it drifts north toward Dutch canals—springs from the Latin “lilium,” a blossom once painted on pharaohs’ walls, stitched into medieval French banners, and, in Japan’s hanakotoba, whispered to mean spotless purity, yet also a quiet, moonlit strength. The name works like an ink-wash on rice paper: spare strokes, immediate impact, leaving plenty of “ma,” the elegant pause where imagination breathes. Victorians tucked it into nosegays for virtue, manga readers know “yuri” lilies for sisterhood and sly romance, and modern statisticians watch her climb the U.S. charts with the unhurried certainty of a koi gliding up a gentle current—top 20 one year, a languid dip the next, never truly disappearing. She carries a cool fragrance of porcelain dawns, the hint of temple bells after rain, and a wry reminder that while lilies symbolize innocence, they’re also among the first flowers to stain white shirts irrevocably—proof that purity has a sense of humor.
Pronunciation
Germanic Languages (e.g., Dutch, Swedish
- Pronunced as LEE-lee (/'li:li/)
English
- Pronunced as LIL-ee (/ˈlɪli/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Lily
| Lily Collins is an English and American actress who began acting as a child, broke through with The Blind Side, and later starred in Priest, Abduction, Mirror Mirror, and The Mortal Instruments. |
| Lily Luahana Cole is a British model, actress, author, film director, and entrepreneur who rose to fame as a teen supermodel with top campaigns and awards, later writing Who Cares Wins and hosting a related climate podcast. |
| Lily James is an English actress who trained at Guildhall, began on Just William, gained recognition in Downton Abbey, and broke through as Cinderella in 2015. |
| Lily Maud Aldridge is an American model who was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2010 to 2018 and co-starred on the 2014 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 50th anniversary cover with Chrissy Teigen and Nina Agdal. |
| Lily Halpern - Lily M. Halpern, known as Lily Lane, is an American singer whose acclaimed 2014 debut EP Nothin' But Trouble was featured on Pretty Little Liars, after early buzz from a viral Starships cover, her song Wishlist, and opening for Big Time Rush. |
