Tilly
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given name Matilda. * (given name, nickname): Shortened from Matilda, + -y. * (surname): The surname may also have origins as a matronymic from Matilda.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Tilly (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, Tilly has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2009. 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 | 11 |
| 2005 | 10 |
| 2006 | 15 |
| 2007 | 14 |
| 2008 | 13 |
| 2009 | 31 |
| 2010 | 13 |
| 2011 | 12 |
| 2012 | 20 |
| 2013 | 19 |
| 2014 | 24 |
| 2015 | 21 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| 2017 | 21 |
| 2018 | 25 |
| 2019 | 31 |
| 2020 | 20 |
| 2021 | 21 |
| 2022 | 19 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 95 |
| 2000 | 91 |
| 2001 | 90 |
| 2002 | 94 |
| 2003 | 97 |
| 2004 | 103 |
| 2005 | 110 |
| 2006 | 121 |
| 2007 | 125 |
| 2008 | 138 |
| 2009 | 166 |
| 2010 | 175 |
| 2011 | 185 |
| 2012 | 202 |
| 2013 | 221 |
| 2014 | 247 |
| 2015 | 268 |
| 2016 | 281 |
| 2017 | 304 |
| 2018 | 327 |
| 2019 | 358 |
| 2020 | 380 |
Tilly in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Tilly.Hi! My name is Tilly.
- Tilly bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Tilly lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Jag ska fika med Tilly i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Tilly this afternoon.
- Tillys mamma är lärare.Tilly's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Tillys mamma is Tilly's mum.
More names
Questions about Tilly
How do you pronounce Tilly in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Tilly in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Tilly mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a diminutive of the female given name Matilda. * (given name, nickname): Shortened from Matilda, + -y. * (surname): The surname may also have origins as a matronymic from Matilda.
How popular is Tilly in Sweden?
19 babies were named Tilly in 2022. In 2020, 380 people in Sweden had Tilly as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2009 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.