# Kelly (surname)

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

A surname from Irish, Anglicised from the Irish Ó Ceallaigh.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 267,394 |
| US rank (2010) | 74 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,155 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.7% (260,385 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɛli/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Kelley, Kelli, Kellie |

## Etymology

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

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kelly 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) | 78% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 16% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Kelly in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Austria, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Argentina.

## People named Kelly

- Grace Kelly, American actress and Princess consort of Monaco (1929–1982)
- R. Kelly, American singer, songwriter, record producer, sex offender
- Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer (1912–1996)
- Moira Kelly, American actress (b. 1968)
- Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger (1854–1880)
- Minka Kelly, American actress
- Mark Kelly, American politician, astronaut, and naval officer (born 1964)
- Michael Kelly, American actor
- Scott Kelly, American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
- Megyn Kelly, American journalist
- Tori Kelly, American singer and songwriter
- Nancy Kelly, American actress (1921–1995)

and 91 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Kelley, Keel, Keil, Keeley, Kell, Kiely, Kehl, Keely, Kyle, Kohl, Kiley, Kuhl.

## 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.