Tillie

English, diminutive of Matilda
"battle mighty"

Tillie Origin and Meaning

The name Tillie is a girl's name of English origin meaning "battle mighty".

A surprise recent hit revival with cutting-edge British, Tribeca and Malibu parents; Tillie, also spelled Tilly, is cute, frilly, and sassy all at once. Tilly is currently Number 90 on the England-Wales popularity list, joining such other Top 100 nickname names as Milly, Maisie, Kitty and Lottie. Tillie along with these other short forms transform proper names rooted in other cultures into true English names for girls.

Writer Tillie Olsen is a feminist favorite. Tillie's Punctured Romance is a classic Mack Sennett silent film, starring Charles Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Marie Dressler; Tillie the Toiler was an iconic flapper comic strip.

# 959 in the US

Tillie Rank in US Top 1000

# 904 on Nameberry

Tillie Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Tillie Popularity

Famous People Named Tillie

  • Tillie Lerner Olsen
    American novelist
  • Tillie Kidd Fowler
    U.S. Congresswoman from Florida
  • Tillie Schloss Pine
    American children's author
  • Tillie Moreno
    Filipina singer
  • Tillie Baldwin (born Anna Mathilda Winger)
    American rodeo pioneer
  • Tillie Anderson
    Swedish,American cyclist

Tillie in Pop Culture

  • Matilda "Tillie" Hunsdorfer
    character in Paul Zindel's play "The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man,in,the,Moon Marigolds"
  • Tillie Banks
    main character in play "Tillie's Nightmare" and 1914 silent film "Tillie's Punctured Romance"
  • Tillie Hansen
    character in 1985 movie "The Aviator"
  • Tillie Kupermann
    character in "Blythewood" by Carol Goodman
  • Māreikura "Tillie" Potts
    character on New Zealand soap "Shortland Street"
  • "Tillie the Toiler
    " comic strip by Russ Westover
  • "Tillie and the Wall
    " short story by Leo Lionni