# Kelly (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kelly/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɛli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Kelley, Kelli, Kellie, Kelleigh |
| US babies named this | 556,365 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 82,400 / 473,965 (85% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 4,353, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceallaigh. Doublet of Kellogg and Callahan.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 944 | 336 |
| 2012 | 892 | 357 |
| 2013 | 849 | 369 |
| 2014 | 740 | 433 |
| 2015 | 675 | 480 |
| 2016 | 605 | 515 |
| 2017 | 504 | 597 |
| 2018 | 486 | 618 |
| 2019 | 448 | 652 |
| 2020 | 366 | 746 |
| 2021 | 324 | 850 |
| 2022 | 347 | 809 |
| 2023 | 362 | 779 |
| 2024 | 312 | 867 |
| 2025 | 319 | 852 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 108 | 1,501 |
| 2012 | 106 | 1,521 |
| 2013 | 103 | 1,543 |
| 2014 | 105 | 1,528 |
| 2015 | 104 | 1,560 |
| 2016 | 118 | 1,460 |
| 2017 | 115 | 1,473 |
| 2018 | 103 | 1,597 |
| 2019 | 107 | 1,570 |
| 2020 | 110 | 1,520 |
| 2021 | 114 | 1,542 |
| 2022 | 122 | 1,486 |
| 2023 | 94 | 1,753 |
| 2024 | 109 | 1,586 |
| 2025 | 84 | 1,881 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 61 | 652 |
| 2012 | 59 | 701 |
| 2013 | 44 | 854 |
| 2014 | 43 | 877 |
| 2015 | 31 | 1,114 |
| 2016 | 38 | 955 |
| 2017 | 31 | 1,105 |
| 2018 | 22 | 1,436 |
| 2019 | 16 | 1,782 |
| 2020 | 23 | 1,352 |
| 2021 | 20 | 1,505 |
| 2022 | 27 | 1,215 |
| 2023 | 16 | 1,774 |
| 2024 | 18 | 1,672 |
| 2025 | 14 | 2,006 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 6 | 2,538 |
| 2007 | 5 | 3,095 |
| 2008 | 7 | 2,507 |
| 2009 | 6 | 2,837 |
| 2010 | 7 | 2,629 |
| 2011 | 5 | 3,300 |
| 2012 | 7 | 2,721 |
| 2013 | 7 | 2,660 |
| 2014 | 5 | 3,362 |
| 2017 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,011 |
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 6 | 3,048 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3,523 |

## In other languages

- Esperanto: Kelli
- French: Kelly
- Greek: Κέλλυ
- Japanese: ケリー
- Russian: Келли

## People named Kelly

- Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter (born 1982)
- Kelly Preston, American actress (1962–2020)
- Kelly Brook, British actress and model
- Kelly Hu, American actress
- Kelly Osbourne, British singer and actress
- Kelly McGillis, American actress
- Kelly Holmes, British middle distance athlete and Olympic gold medallist
- Kelly Marie Tran, American actress (born 1989)
- Kelly Rutherford, American actress
- Kelly Le Brock, American actress and model
- Kelly Reilly, British actress
- Kelly Lynch, American actress

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.