Lillian
Lillian proper noun: a female given name from Latin, of American usage; variant form Lilian (UK).
Proper noun
Lillian
- A female given name from Latin, of American usage; variant form Lilian (UK).
- Your mother's name was Lillian, Minnie Lee,
Her other name I never heard, until
I stood within the church and saw her wed
So she is ever Lillian Lee to me.1836, Adeline Sergeant, Lillian Lee - Lillian Russell was christened Helen Louise Leonard. Tony Pastor gave her the name Lillian Russell, for the very practical reason, I believe, that it had so many "l's" in it, and consequently would look well on a bill-board.1907, Lewis Clinton Strang, Famous Prima Donnas, L.C.Page&Co, page 33
- Your mother's name was Lillian, Minnie Lee,
Forms of Lillian
| alternative form | Lilian |
|---|
Origin of Lillian
Used since the sixteenth century, possibly originally a pet form of Elizabeth, but generally accepted as a variant of Late Latin lilium (“lily”).
Words formed from Lillian
Questions about Lillian
- What does Lillian mean?
- Lillian means a female given name from Latin, of American usage; variant form Lilian (UK).
- What part of speech is Lillian?
- Lillian is a proper noun.
Words near Lillian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Lillian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “Lillian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lillian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.