How common is the surname Kelly?

267,394 people in the United States had the surname Kelly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,155 Americans. It ranked 74th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kelly?

Grace Kelly, American actress and Princess consort of Monaco (1929–1982), followed by R. Kelly.

Where is the surname Kelly most common?

Wikidata records people named Kelly in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Kelly?

Kelly is /ˈkɛli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Kelly getting more or less common?

More common. 260,385 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 267,394 in 2010, up 2.7%.

Is Kelly also a first name?

Yes. Kelly is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Kelly

An Irish surname, the 74th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɛli/ 2 syllables Soundex K400 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kelly is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

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

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 267,394 people named Kelly in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,155 Americans. That is up 2.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 260,385.

#74

rank among US surnames

267,394

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.7%

change since 2000 (was #69)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#65	Cook	302,589	1,020
#66	Rogers	302,261	1,021
#67	Gutierrez	293,218	1,053
#68	Ortiz	286,899	1,076
#69	Morgan	286,280	1,078
#70	Cooper	280,791	1,100
#71	Peterson	278,297	1,109

Who is named Kelly

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

78% of people named Kelly identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 78%
Black (not Hispanic) 16%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.7%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kellys

103 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Grace Kelly
American actress and Princess consort of Monaco (1929–1982)
R. Kelly
American singer, songwriter, record producer, sex offender, born 1967
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, born 1980
Mark Kelly
American politician, astronaut, and naval officer (born 1964)
Michael Kelly
American actor, born 1969
Scott Kelly
American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
Megyn Kelly
American journalist, born 1970
Tori Kelly
American singer and songwriter, born 1992
Nancy Kelly
American actress (1921–1995)

Notable Kellys come mostly from the United States (86), Australia (7) and the United Kingdom (5).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Kelley
Kelli
Kellie

Surnames that sound like Kelly

Kelly has the Soundex code K400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K400.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kelly come from?: Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceallaigh. Doublet of Kellogg and Callahan.
How common is the surname Kelly?: 267,394 people in the United States had the surname Kelly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,155 Americans. It ranked 74th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kelly?: In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named Kelly identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kelly?: Grace Kelly, American actress and Princess consort of Monaco (1929–1982), followed by R. Kelly.
Where is the surname Kelly most common?: Wikidata records people named Kelly in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Kelly?: Kelly is /ˈkɛli/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Kelly getting more or less common?: More common. 260,385 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 267,394 in 2010, up 2.7%.
What are other spellings of Kelly?: Kelley, Kelli and Kellie.
Is Kelly also a first name?: Yes. Kelly is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.