Tilly

till-ee

Diminutive of Matilda

"battle-mighty"

Tilly Origin and Meaning

The name Tilly is a girl's name of German origin meaning "battle-mighty".

A favorite in England and Wales where nicknames as given names are very much the norm, Tilly has the potential to catch on in the US, given its similarity to the popular Lily and Ellie and the rising stars Millie, Billie, Kallie, and Nellie.

Most often used as a nickname for the strong but lively Matilda, Tilly might also work for recently popular Ottilie. Other less obvious possibilities could be Chantilly, Talitha, Natalie, or Talia.

As a stand alone name, Tilly is cutesy but not flimsy, and in recent years, it has been racing up the US charts. Nearly doubling in usage since 2018, a recent count revealed Tilly is given to nearly 250 babies each year. When you combine this with the number of Tillies too, the figure is more like 400.

Notable Tillys include Tilly Ramsay, daughter of Gordan Ramsay, and a chef, present and influencer in her own right; Tilly Keeper, an actress in British soap Eastenders; and Tilly Edinger, a German-American paleontologist who founded paleoneurology.

Tilly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 458 on Nameberry

Tilly Popularity

• 458 Nameberry 2024
• 43 Unique 2023
• 163 England 2021
• 143 Scotland 2023
• 91 New Zealand 2023
• 87 Dogs 2022
• 94 Cats 2021

20 Names Similar to Tilly

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Tilly.

• Tillie
• Millie
• Lottie
• Nellie
• Evie
• Rosie
• Tilda
• Gracie
• Winnie
• Polly
• Hattie
• Bea
• Etta
• Poppy
• Molly
• Sylvie
• May
• Layla
• Josie
• Pippa

Famous People Named Tilly

• Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine "Tilly" Losch Countess of Carnarvon, Austrian,American dancer and actress
• Matilda "Tilly" Keeper English actress
• Tilly Vosburgh English actress
• Tilly O'Neill Gordon, Canadian politician
• Tilly van der Zwaard Dutch middle distance runner
• Matilda Mary "Tilly" Devine English,Australian gangster and folk figure
• Matilda Emily "Tilly" Bagshawe English novelist
• Matilda "Tilly" Ramsay (b. 2001) daughter of TV chef Gordon Ramsay
• Tilly Jennifer Lindsay (b. 2008) daughter of TV presenter Sally Meen & Russ Lindsay
• Tilly Elizabeth Godwin (b. 2013) daughter of reality TV personality Britney Haynes ("Big Brother 12") and Ryan Godwin
• Jennifer and Meg Tilly American actresses
• Clarence William "Tilly" Walker American male baseball player

Tilly in Pop Culture

• Matilda "Tilly" Evans character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
• Mathilda "Tilly" Bassett character in Louisa May Alcott's "An Old,Fashioned Thanksgiving"
• Tilly Green character on TV's Big City Greens
• Tilly main character in TV's 'Tilly and Friends'
• Tilly puppet on British children's TV series Tots TV
• Tilly main character in Raymond Briggs' book and TV film "The Bear"
• Tilly main character on British sitcom "Miranda"
• Tilly and the Wall American indie rock band