Dolly
Pronounced D AA1 L IY0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1926
- 145 years in use
- 3 spellings
How popular is Dolly?
Dolly is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 39,866 children — the 615th most common girls' name on record.
It peaked in 1926, went quiet for most of a century, and is climbing again. Its best single year was 1926, when 744 children were given it.
Three other spellings are counted in that total — Dollie, Dali and Dolley — because they are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Dolly and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Dollie
- Dali
- Dolley
Nicknames
Dolly is itself a short form of Dorothy.
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- D AA1 L IY0
- Stress pattern:
- 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Dolly
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Dolly
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Dolly?
- Dolly ranks 615th among girls' names in US records, with 39,866 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 889.
- Is Dolly a unisex name?
- No. Dolly is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Dolly most popular?
- 1926, when 744 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Dolly spelled?
- Dollie, Dali, Dolley. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.