The Baby Name Wizard

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Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Lilith!

Comments and insights on the name Lilith: | Edit

What an awesome name. Yes, Lilith is supposedly a demon, but only because she refused to submit to Adam's authority. Even if you ignore the history, the sound of the name is beautiful and strong. I would give this name to my child.

Personal experiences with the name Lilith: | Edit

This is an ancient name with a long history and different associations for different people. Because of the name's dark goddess or demonic associations in Judeo-Christian folklore (and a story that one of the ways that Lilith asserted her equality with Adam in the Garden of Eden was to refuse to "lie beneath him,") the name occurs frequently in popular fiction for dominatrix or vampire characters. In recent history, the 1973 founding of the Jewish feminist magazine "Lilith" and the women's music festival "Lilith Fair" have done a lot to bring the positive spin on the name to public consciousness.

Nicknames for Lilith: | Edit

Lil, Lily

Meanings and history of the name Lilith: | Edit

Lilith is a mythological female Mesopotamian storm demon associated with wind and was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death. The figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm demons or spirits as Lilitu, in Sumer, circa 4000 BC. Many scholars place the origin of the phonetic name "Lilith" at somewhere around 700 BC despite post-dating even the time of Moses.

In Jewish folklore, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. According to legend, Lilith was created from the same clay as Adam was, but Adam nevertheless insisted that she submit to him and lie beneath him as the inferior one. Lilith refused, pronounced the Ineffable Name, and flew out of Paradise. For this reason, many consider Lilith to be somewhat of a feminist icon.

Famous real-life people named Lilith: | Edit

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Lilith in song, story & screen: | Edit

Lilith appears as a night demon in Jewish lore and as a screech owl in the King James version of the Bible.
Lilith Pleasant, character in the Sims series of games.
Lilith Sternin, wife (and eventually ex-wife) of Frasier Crane in the television series "Cheers", "Frasier", and "Wings".
Lilith is the name of the daughter in 'How the West was Won' played by Debbie Reynolds.