How popular is the name Holly?

Holly ranks 197th among girls' names in US records, with 230,584 births since 1886. Over the past decade it accounts for 7,717.

Is Holly a unisex name?

No. Holly is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.

1983, when 7,130 children were given the name. It has been in use for 139 years and is still recorded as of 2024.

Hollie, Holley. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.

Girl name#197 of girl names

Pronounced HH AA1 L IY0 (ARPABET)

Holly is a girls' name, and first appears in 1886. It has been given to 230,584 children — the 197th most common girls' name on record.

It has been slipping, down 23% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1983, when 7,130 children were given it.

Two other spellings are counted in that total — Hollie and Holley — because they are pronounced identically.

1983Girls: 7,130Boys: 36

These spellings sound identical to Holly and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

Phonetic detail

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

How popular is the name Holly?: Holly ranks 197th among girls' names in US records, with 230,584 births since 1886. Over the past decade it accounts for 7,717.
Is Holly a unisex name?: No. Holly is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Holly most popular?: 1983, when 7,130 children were given the name. It has been in use for 139 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Holly spelled?: Hollie, Holley. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.