Lilith (1892) by John Collier; Image via Wikipedia
She’s the original first wife scorned, a woman often considered evil – or maybe just too bold for her times.
Thanks to Tara and Heather for suggesting Lilith as our Baby Name of the Day.
Parents are in love with Lily, ranked #18 in the US in 2009.
My daughter, now 4, is Lilith Ann. The middle is for both her grandmothers. She is in a preschool class with one Lily, and two Lila, and a Liam for good measure. We have refused to shorten her name anyway unless she chooses it herself down the road. My little angelic demon … I love her name and everyone else does too.
I knew a set of sisters named Lilith and Mathilda — born in the late 60s/early 70s.
Meh. I find many mainstream Biblical names have far more wicked connotations for me that Lilith’s mythology. I like Lilith and the name is extremely pleasant to say.
Since they’ve been mentioned, I have similar thinking RE Delilah and Jezebel. There are violent Biblical thugs (lauded as heroes) which make these two !!OMG wicked, foreign, dirty harlots!! seem tame. Mudslinging towards women in general seems to be a fairly common theme in the Bible (although its not alone in that).
Nevertheless, Jezebel would be one heck of a hard name to live with given it’s OTT maligned namesake and now being synonymous with “harlot”.
[Trust me to hit post before finished.] I wouldn’t use it and I’d ask anyone to think very, very carefully before they did.
Lilith is probably my favourite of the Lily names, but I find its history just a little too dark for my tastes (although fascinating). Add to that the fact that there seems to be Lily variants aplenty in Roseanna’s age-group and the possibility that I’d ever use Lilith goes out the window.
This isn’t on topic, but tonight’s Jeopardy! winner was a woman named Eureka.
I like Lilith. The “evil namesake” issue doesn’t bother me as much as it does with, say, Jezebel or Delilah — probably because Lilith’s story is a lot less canonical. She feels less like a truly evil woman and more like a character in an interesting story someone made up.
I dislike Lillith, mostly because in a book I read and loved, Lillith was the uber-evil vampire queen. (On a side note, that book had some great names, Cian, Blair and Moira to name a few).
Although I love Lily, to me, Lil(l)ith=Vampire Queen.
Lily in all forms is uber-popular in my area. Both of my kids have Lily’s in their classes – not sure of the full name of the elder one, but the one in Oliver’s class is Liliana. A perusal of the classroom doors at both the preschool and the daycare reveals that there is at least one Lily (or more) per room (except Imogen’s own classroom at preschool). I love Lily. It’s Imogen’s middle. We really wanted it in the first spot (as Lilian because Nigel absolutely *refused* to consider Lilith – sounded witchy to him). I have to admit, I think of Cheers and Sarah MacLachlan with Lilith, but I still like it.
Liliana is really catching on – there’s one in Clio’s daycare, and I’ve heard it mentioned more and more.
I first became aware of the mythological figure of Lilith in Piers Anthony’s novel For Love of Evil. That particular character was a seductive harlot. Add to that my “fire and brimstone” upbringing and Lilith feels akin to Jezebel, Delilah and Salome. All four sound pretty, but I would never, ever name a child one of those names.
I much rather use names like Ailith or Tanith.
Tanith is gorgeous!
I love Lilith! I’ve always liked it but reading this makes me really want to add it to my (already way too long) list.
About 5 minutes ago, I viewed it as a pretty yet only marginally interesting name. I like the darker side of it much more.
I would worry that it could move up the charts soon (especially if a celebrity decides to use it) as a new Lily spinoff. That’s always my biggest naming fear and why I always go back to names out of the top 1000, though. I really like the -th ending as it’s not too feminine to go with Bayard/ Bay.
I find the name to feel really heavy, and I think it has to do with the ending. Something about names ending in -ith feel a bit heavier to me.
Eh, not a fan.
I have to say I find Lilith quite attractive, though I do worry that the -lith ending sounds rather lispy.
I’d say that Lilia and Lilias, not mentioned above, would be my top two “Lily” picks, but Lilith might be the third…
Lilith has always been my favorite of the ‘Lily’ names. I LOVE names that end in TH, especially Judith and Meredith. The Frasier connection is strong for me, but with Lilith fair and tons of Lily’s running around it’s not too tied to Bebe Neuwirth’s character.
So does Lilith not chart? It was unclear…If not, it’s only a matter of time. I know 2 little Lily’s, both full name Lillian. I like the strong history of Lilith, but in a sea of Lily’s I think she’d have to insist on using her full name to stand out more.
No, Lilith doesn’t chart – never has. But with all those Lilys, well …
Grandma Lily always wished she’d been Lilith in full, instead of Lilian. She used to tell me, often.
Lilith is light & pretty in sound but has a hefty feel. I took Lilith with me when I had Josephine. She was very nearly Lilith Alexandra Jane. Until the Mr. started singing “Mary had a Little Lamb” at the baby girl (her initials would have been LAM). I sadly crossed off Lilith and named her for my favorite Auntie instead. Now I adore Josephine’s name and think it suits her perfectly, but secretly? She’d’ve been an awesome Lilith/Lily. There’s not a single Lily in any of the first grades this year, there’s one in third grade but that’s it. Funny too, considering how Lily felt everywhere in 2004.
Oh well, maybe in the next lifetime! I still utterly adore Lilith!
She fits in the group with Pandora for me, another twisted, misunderstood mythological name. I like that, too. 🙂
Twisted, misunderstood mythological names – you’re right Lola, there are oodles of them, and they tend to be strangely appealing!