Kelly Boy & girl
How popular is Kelly?
#851 girl name in 2025
319 baby girls were named Kelly in the US in 2025, making it the 851st most popular girl name. Another 84 boys got the name (#1,867 for boys).
Kelly popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #851 for girls (▲ 16 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 319 girls, 84 boys |
| 10-year trend | Falling fast (-53% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #480 in 2015, #745 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1977 (18,234 girls) |
| Highest rank | #10 in 1977 |
| First recorded | 1907 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 21% boys, 79% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.3% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Kelly counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Kelly family of names ranked #698 for girls in 2025 (#708 the year before), with 378 babies in all.
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Kelly is most popular
Babies named Kelly per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Maryland: 0.4 per 1,000 (45 girls)
- Connecticut: 0.4 per 1,000 (22 girls)
- New Jersey: 0.4 per 1,000 (68 girls)
- New York: 0.4 per 1,000 (145 girls)
- Virginia: 0.3 per 1,000 (59 girls)
Kelly by decade
| Decade | Baby girls | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 17 | #1,763 |
| 1910s | 73 | #2,125 |
| 1920s | 118 | #2,377 |
| 1930s | 127 | #1,873 |
| 1940s | 559 | #803 |
| 1950s | 15,358 | #74 |
| 1960s | 128,053 | #12 |
| 1970s | 133,545 | #10 |
| 1980s | 109,539 | #19 |
| 1990s | 55,724 | #41 |
| 2000s | 21,618 | #111 |
| 2010s | 7,204 | #306 |
| 2020s | 2,030 | #745 |
Girl names about as popular as Kelly
Questions
- Is Kelly a boy or girl name?
- Kelly is used for both. Over the last 10 years, 21% of babies named Kelly were boys and 79% were girls.
- How popular is the name Kelly?
- 319 baby girls were named Kelly in the US in 2025, making it the 851st most popular girl name. Another 84 boys got the name (#1,867 for boys).
- When was Kelly most popular?
- Kelly peaked in 1977, when 18,234 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #10 in 1977.
- How many people are named Kelly?
- 556,365 babies have been named Kelly in the US since 1880. We estimate about 513,834 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 49.
- Where is Kelly most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Kelly was most common in Maryland, at 0.4 of every 1,000 girls born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.