Annaly
Feminine · “grace”
Annaly looks invented and is not, quite. Anneli has been a real name in Finland, Sweden and Germany for over a century — Anna with a pet ending — and the American habit of hanging -ly on a short name arrives at almost the same word from the other direction.
How old is the name Annaly?
Annaly first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Annaly alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 600 people named Annaly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annaly most popular?
Annaly peaked in 2009, reaching #3870 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 7,047 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hannah to Annaly
The story of Annaly
Anna is Hannah shortened in Greek and Latin, and it has been the most reliably used woman's name in Europe for a thousand years, which means it has more pet forms than almost any other: Annika, Annelie, Anneke, Anouk, Anya, Nan, Nancy. Anneli is the Finnish and Swedish one, and there it is a full given name rather than a nickname. Separately, American parents began treating -lee as a free-standing ending, and Anna took it as readily as Amber and Kim did. The two lines meet at this spelling. There is also a place: Annaly, anglicized from Anghaile, was the lordship of the O'Farrells in what is now County Longford — a coincidence of sound rather than a source.
Meaningscholars disagree
grace, from Hebrew Hannah, with a diminutive ending
Two routes reach this spelling. One is Anneli, the Finnish, Swedish and German pet form of Anna, which is Hebrew Hannah, grace or favor. The other is the American practice of adding -ly, -lee or -leigh to a short name, which produces Annalee and Annaly with no reference to Anneli at all. The Anna half is settled either way; the ending is not.
How the name formed
- Hannah
- Anna
- Annaly
Related forms: Anneli · Anneli · Annelie · Anneke
Pronouncing Annaly
AN-uh-lee
Three syllables with the stress firmly on the first. Not uh-NAH-lee. The ending is unstressed, which is why it can be written -ly, -lee, -lie or -leigh without any audible difference.
Nicknames for Annaly
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1990
- Most girls named
- 200940 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3870reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −50.0%8 in 2025, from 16
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Annaly in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anneli in Finnish — related form
- Anneli in Swedish — related form
- Annelie in German — related form
- Anneke in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Illinois.
Annalys among us
people named Annaly are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Annaly
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Annaly
- #10917
- Annaly on the 2025 chart
- #817
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Annaly went to 8 girls in 2025, but Anali, Analy and Annali are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 143, which makes it the 817th most-given girls’ name of the year — 10,100 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 11,240 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 200,908 for Annaly itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Clark test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Annaly's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Clark climbed just as high around 1918, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Clark's path sketches the road Annaly is walking now.
Annaly sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Annaly beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Annaly in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Anna half is documented, ancient and understood in every European language.
- Anna and Annie both work as short forms without any effort at all.
- Three light syllables that sit well in front of a long surname.
- Most people will shorten it to Anna within a week.
- Annalee, Annalie, Anneli and Annaly all exist, so the spelling has to be given every time.
- A large American financial company shares the name, which is what an internet search will return first.
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What they receive
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Annaly
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Annalys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Annaly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Annaly?
- Annaly is one of 4 recorded spellings. Anali is the more common one — 65 births in 2025 against 8 for Annaly.
- How popular is the name Annaly in 2025?
- Annaly ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Annaly?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Annaly — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Annaly with classmates?
- Annaly will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Annaly
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annaly? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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