# Jolly (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/jolly/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 15,827 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,306 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 19,508 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.4% (15,166 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* Cognate to the French name Jolie. It derives from the Old French word joli (merriness). * In Punjab (India) it is a corruption of the word jalli.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Jolly in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 2.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Jolly in the United States, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

## People named Jolly

- Allison Jolly, American sailor
- David Jolly, American lobbyist and politician
- Alison Jolly, American Primatologist
- Pete Jolly, American musician (1932–2004)
- André Jolly, Belgian politician (1799–1883)
- Emika, British DJ and music producer (1986-)

## Similar surnames

Jolley, Joel, Joly, Jewell, Jalloh, Juhl, Joyal, Johal, Julio, Julia, July.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.