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Trilby
How to Pronounce Trilby
Pronounced TRIL-bee /ˈtrɪlbi/Medium
Meaning: Trilby is a literary coinage, the name of the artists'-model heroine of George du Maurier's hugely popular 1894 novel 'Trilby.' It has no older etymology; the soft hat and the vocal 'trill' echo both come from the book's fame.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Trilby owes its existence to George du Maurier's 1894 novel 'Trilby,' whose heroine, the singer Trilby O'Ferrall, became a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. The craze put the name into United States birth records, where it appears from the mid eighteen-nineties and peaks around 1925. It has no ancient root; it is a made-up literary name. It was always rare as a given name, claimed by only a couple dozen girls a year.
With records lasting into the twenty-first century, Trilby spans several generations rather than one, kept faintly alive by the enduring hat and the book. It has not truly revived, but its crisp, vintage-quirky sound could appeal to parents drawn to literary names like Millie and Tilly with a story attached.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Trilby mean?
It is a literary name from the heroine of George du Maurier's 1894 novel 'Trilby,' and also the source of the hat's name.
How do you pronounce Trilby?
It's said TRIL-bee /ˈtrɪlbi/, 2 syllables.
Is Trilby a boy or girl name?
Trilby is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Trilby?
It was always rare, a literary name given to only a couple dozen girls a year after the novel's success in the eighteen-nineties.