Holley
Feminine · “holly wood or clearing”
Holley is given to both — 4,486 girls and 204 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Holley is an English surname from a landscape — a wood or clearing where holly grew — and holly was worth naming a place for, because it was one of the few things green in winter.
How old is the name Holley?
Holley first appears in US birth records in 1937 — 88 years ago. The typical Holley alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 4,300 people named Holley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Holley most popular?
Holley peaked in 1974, reaching #1107 nationally. Today it ranks #3712, 2,605 places below that high. See the whole 1974 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From holegn leah to Holley
The story of Holley
Holly was genuinely useful: the young leaves fed livestock through winter and the wood was hard and white enough for tool handles and inlay, and the plant's evergreen habit gave it a role in midwinter ritual. English places named for it produced the surnames Holley, Holly and Hollis. The given name is twentieth-century American and was widely used in the 1970s.
Meaning
holly wood or clearing
From Old English holegn, holly, with leah, a clearing; the plant was cut for winter fodder and for decoration, and its evergreen leaves gave it a place in midwinter custom long before Christmas.
How the name formed
- holegn leah
- Holley
Related forms: Holly · Hollis
Pronouncing Holley
HOL-ee
Two syllables, first stressed. Holley and Holly are said identically.
Nicknames for Holley
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
- 1937
- Most girls named
- 1984108 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1107reached in 1974
- Change vs 2023
- −9.1%40 in 2025, from 44
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.
Holley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Holly in English — spelling variant
- Hollis in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, California.
Holleys among us
people named Holley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 40,182 born in 2025 was named Holley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marvin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Holley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marvin climbed just as high around 1929, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marvin's path sketches the road Holley is walking now.
Holley 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
Where Holley is headed
Holley should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Holley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Holley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning drawn from a real and genuinely useful plant.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Six letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Holly is by far the standard spelling and will be written for her constantly.
- The Christmas association is strong and may not fit a child born in July.
- It is strongly associated with one American decade.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Holley
Feminine · #3712 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Holleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,300 people named Holley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Holley in 2025?
- Holley ranks #3712 among US girl names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Holley?
- About 1 in every 40,182 US girls born in 2025 was named Holley — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Holley with classmates?
- Holley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Holley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Monet#3712 · Barrett#3712 · October#3712 · Aubrianna#3712 · Mishka#3712 · Berkleigh#3712 · Zailey#3712 · Ora#3712
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Holley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Holley and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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