Lillian
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Latin, of American usage; variant form Lilian (UK). Used since the sixteenth century, possibly originally a pet form of Elizabeth, but generally accepted as a variant of Late Latin lilium (“lily”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Lillian (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Lillian has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 2 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | – |
| 2008 | 3 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 11 |
| 2011 | 6 |
| 2012 | 6 |
| 2013 | 10 |
| 2014 | 8 |
| 2015 | 7 |
| 2016 | 11 |
| 2017 | 6 |
| 2018 | 15 |
| 2019 | 17 |
| 2020 | 16 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2022 | 15 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 911 |
| 2000 | 903 |
| 2001 | 896 |
| 2002 | 895 |
| 2003 | 899 |
| 2004 | 888 |
| 2005 | 880 |
| 2006 | 874 |
| 2007 | 868 |
| 2008 | 863 |
| 2009 | 856 |
| 2010 | 853 |
| 2011 | 849 |
| 2012 | 842 |
| 2013 | 827 |
| 2014 | 818 |
| 2015 | 813 |
| 2016 | 813 |
| 2017 | 794 |
| 2018 | 797 |
| 2019 | 797 |
| 2020 | 797 |
Lillian in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Lillian.Hi! My name is Lillian.
- Har du träffat Lillian? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Lillian? She started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Lillian kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Lillian is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Lillians mamma är lärare.Lillian's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Lillians mamma is Lillian's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Lillian
How do you pronounce Lillian in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Lillian in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Lillian mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Latin, of American usage; variant form Lilian (UK). Used since the sixteenth century, possibly originally a pet form of Elizabeth, but generally accepted as a variant of Late Latin lilium (“lily”).
How popular is Lillian in Sweden?
15 babies were named Lillian in 2022. In 2020, 797 people in Sweden had Lillian as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2019 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.