Name Awesome

Li

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Li has been given to 382 babies in the U.S. since 1952. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1983, with 14 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 65% girls, 35% boys all-time.

Babies named Li, 2009

1 in 637,000

Li over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Li over time

In 2023, Li went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19522023

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Li: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Chinese

What Li means

Li has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Li

One of the source’s documented entries for Li records a meaning of reason, logic.

One of the source’s documented entries for Li records a meaning of to me.

Origin, language, and formation

Li is used in Vietnamese. Its origins include Chinese.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Vietnamese, Li is pronounced [li˧˧].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 250 girls were recorded with the name Li between 1952 and 2009. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1983; its best national rank was #5,026 in 1983.

In the United States, 132 boys were recorded with the name Li between 1976 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 15 in 2001; its best national rank was #5,042 in 2001.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Li?

Li had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2009, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2009
1 in 637,000
6 of 3,820,315 births
Among girls only
1 in 306,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2009
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
441,341 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Li sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2009 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 441,341 children born in 2009 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Li. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Li was born before 1994 — so the typical Li is around 31 today.

Median birth year
1994
About 31 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
32.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
79.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
250
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 32.8% of all recorded uses (82).

Is Li rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1983 (14)
Years since peak
42
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
40.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#5,026
1983

Where Li is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Li was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 329,116 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Li has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Li is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Li was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,110,320 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Li has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Li around the world

Where Li ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2016
    #4,763
    in 2016
  • Ireland
    2006–2006
    #764
    in 2006
  • France
    1984–2022
    #7,294
    in 2022
  • Canada
    1991–2003
    #2,681
    in 2003
  • South Australia
    1974–2000
    #727
    in 2000

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Li by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,026
1983
Peak year
1983
14 that year
First recorded
1952
Last recorded
2009
All-time count
250
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,042
2001
Peak year
2001
15 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
132
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Li

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

LiliLilliLisLibiLiorLimaLiraLielLiloLinLiamLivyLiatLiljaLionaLincyLinsyLianyLibniLileLiviLilouLilitLilac

Sibling names for Li

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Li

Top names of 1983, Li's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1983Girls' names starting with LTwo-Letter Names