Head to head · Girls' names
Molly vs Olive
#196 vs #197 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Molly is a whisker ahead (#196 vs #197 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Molly leads 4 measures of 6; Olive leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Molly #363, Olive #89 — Olive higher
- 1890s: Molly #416, Olive #89 — Olive higher
- 1900s: Molly #377, Olive #105 — Olive higher
- 1910s: Molly #347, Olive #132 — Olive higher
- 1920s: Molly #406, Olive #195 — Olive higher
- 1930s: Molly #364, Olive #353 — Olive higher
- 1940s: Molly #359, Olive #673 — Molly higher
- 1950s: Molly #339, Olive #1325 — Molly higher
- 1960s: Molly #296, Olive #2534 — Molly higher
- 1970s: Molly #185, Olive #4980 — Molly higher
- 1980s: Molly #116, Olive #7217 — Molly higher
- 1990s: Molly #92, Olive #6730 — Molly higher
- 2000s: Molly #98, Olive #2272 — Molly higher
- 2010s: Molly #126, Olive #316 — Molly higher
- 2020s: Molly #195, Olive #180 — Olive higher
Molly stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Olive took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Molly | Olive |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #363 | #89 |
| 1890s | #416 | #89 |
| 1900s | #377 | #105 |
| 1910s | #347 | #132 |
| 1920s | #406 | #195 |
| 1930s | #364 | #353 |
| 1940s | #359 | #673 |
| 1950s | #339 | #1325 |
| 1960s | #296 | #2534 |
| 1970s | #185 | #4980 |
| 1980s | #116 | #7217 |
| 1990s | #92 | #6730 |
| 2000s | #98 | #2272 |
| 2010s | #126 | #316 |
| 2020s | #195 | #180 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Molly
- Scotland#56
Olive
- England & Wales#53
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Molly
a pet form of Mary; the underlying Hebrew name Miryam has no agreed translation
Molly's own history is clear — it is Mary, shortened. What Mary means is the unsettled part: readings of the Hebrew Miryam include "bitter" and "rebellious" from Hebrew roots, and "beloved" from an Egyptian element. Scholars have argued over it for a very long time without landing anywhere final.
Miryam → Maria → Mary → Moll → Molly
How it traveled
Mary was so common in medieval and early modern England that speakers wore it down for everyday use: Mary became Mall, Mall became Moll, and Moll picked up the affectionate -y ending to give Molly. Daniel Defoe used the older short form for the heroine of Moll Flanders in 1722; by then Molly was already standard across England and Ireland, and it traveled with Irish emigration into American speech.
Olive
Olive tree, olive
From Latin oliva, the olive tree and its fruit. The olive branch has stood for peace since antiquity — the wreaths of the Greek games, the dove returning with an olive leaf in Genesis — so the word carried that association long before it was used as a name.
oliva (Latin) → Oliva (medieval Latin) → Olive (medieval English) → Olivia
How it traveled
The name comes from Latin oliva and reached English through the medieval church, where Oliva appears in Latin records and Olive in the everyday English form. Medieval England used it steadily, and it never entirely lapsed; it was still being given, quietly, when American record-keeping began.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Molly
MAH-lee
Rhymes with jolly. One pronunciation everywhere in English; the only real variation is how open the first vowel sits, from MAH-lee to MAW-lee.
- Moll — The older form Molly grew out of; used informally within families, less common on its own now.
- Mols — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings; spelled Molls as often as Mols.
- Mary — The full name behind Molly, sometimes used as the formal version when a family wants both.
- Polly — A historic rhyming offshoot of Molly that long ago became an independent given name.
Olive
OL-iv
Stress on the first syllable, exactly like the fruit. No real variation in English; the main mishearing is Olivia rather than a different pronunciation.
- Ollie — The standard informal short form; also used for Oliver and Olivia, and given on its own as a name.
- Liv — Informal; shared with Olivia and with the independent Scandinavian name Liv.
- Ol — Family-only shortening, spoken rather than written.
Who has carried each name
Molly
Molly Ringwald (b. 1968) — Teen queen of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles
Molly Shannon (b. 1964) — SNL's fearless Mary Katherine Gallagher
Olive
No documented entry for Olive yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Molly if you want…
- a name holding steadyMolly is holding its place on the charts
Choose Olive if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Olive from Molly.
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Molly
Strengths
- Already a short, affectionate form, so there is nothing to shorten — the everyday name and the legal name are the same.
- Spelled the way it sounds, and read correctly on sight by nearly every English speaker.
- A continuous record in English and Irish use going back centuries, and still on the charts in Scotland.
To consider
- In American slang since the 2010s, "molly" has been a street term for MDMA, used in songs and headlines. It has not displaced the name, but it is worth knowing that the word travels in two worlds.
- Mollie is a long-established alternative spelling, so expect an occasional need to specify which one.
- The older short form Moll picked up unflattering senses in centuries past — a gangster's girlfriend, a woman of the streets. That baggage attached to Moll, not Molly, and is largely archaic now.
Olive
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and already known as an ordinary English word — almost never misspelled once heard correctly.
- Recognizable in French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, where the same name exists as Olive or Oliva.
- A documented record in English going back to the Middle Ages, with no long gap in use.
To consider
- Olivia sounds close and is far more common, so Olive will often be heard, written down, or corrected to it. Expect a lifetime of gently repeating the shorter version.
- It is a word name, which means the food and the color come along too. Olive Oyl of the Popeye cartoons is the association most likely to be voiced, usually once and then dropped.
- In the United States it is still strongly associated with the oldest generations, and some relatives will hear it that way before they hear it as a name for a baby.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Molly and Olive in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Molly and Olive?
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One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Molly and Olive — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Molly or Olive — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Molly or Olive?
- Molly, in 2025: Molly ranked #196 with 1,601 babies; Olive ranked #197 with 1,597 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Molly or Olive?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Molly moved down 23 places; Olive moved down 2 places.
- Which is the older name, Molly or Olive?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Molly and Olive?
- About 161,000 people named Molly are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,500 people named Olive are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Mollys or Olives in the classroom?
- Molly will almost certainly be the only one in school. Olive will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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