Holly
Masculine · “the holly tree”
Holly is given to girls far more often — 205,304 girls against 1,541 boys since 1880. See Holly as a girl name
Holly is the plant, and the plant was brought indoors at midwinter long before there was a Christmas to bring it into. Evergreens in a dark month are a solution to an obvious problem, and northern Europe had been using them for that purpose for a very long time before the church arrived and absorbed the practice rather than arguing with it.
How old is the name Holly?
Holly was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Holly alive today was born around 1952, making them about 73 years old. About 800 people named Holly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Holly most popular?
Holly peaked in 1888, reaching #755 nationally. See the whole 1888 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From An Old English word for the evergreen shrub to Holly
The story of Holly
The plant's midwinter role is older than the festival attached to it. An evergreen that fruits in December is genuinely remarkable in a northern climate, and cutting it and bringing it inside is the kind of practice that arises independently wherever the conditions are the same. The church's approach to such customs was generally to absorb rather than suppress them, and by the medieval period the plant had acquired a full set of Christian associations that it had not previously had. As a personal name it is much younger: it appears in the nineteenth century with the other botanical names and does not become common until well into the twentieth. The place in California, incidentally, is not named for it. The origin of that name is disputed, and none of the competing accounts involves this plant.
Meaning
the holly tree
The English word for the evergreen shrub with spined leaves and red berries, used directly as a name from the nineteenth century onwards. The reading is not in dispute. The word itself is old English and has no connection to the word holy, despite the resemblance and despite a great deal of folk explanation to the contrary; the two have different vowels historically and different roots.
How the name formed
- An Old English word for the evergreen shrub
- Brought indoors at midwinter before Christmas existed
- Taken as a personal name in the nineteenth century
- In common American use through the twentieth
Pronouncing Holly
HOL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, said exactly as the plant. It is not the word holy, which has a long o; the two are distinct in every English accent and are constantly confused in writing anyway.
Nicknames for Holly
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 198129 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #755reached in 1888
- Change vs 1997
- +60.0%8 in 2004, from 5
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.
Hollys among us
people named Holly are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Holly sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Nobody will ever mispronounce it or need it spelled twice.
- The meaning is concrete, seasonal and pleasant, and can be explained in a sentence.
- It works on the register for either child, which the record confirms.
- It is strongly seasonal, and a child born in July will hear about it.
- It is confused in writing with the word holy, which is a different word entirely.
- It reads as belonging to a particular late-twentieth-century moment in American naming.
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What they receive
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Holly
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Hollys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Holly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Holly in 2025?
- Holly is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Holly with classmates?
- Holly will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More H names
The most-given names starting with H, all years combined.
Henry#5 · Harold#991 · Harry#775 · Howard#1002 · Hunter#130 · Herbert#2641 · Herman#2363 · Harvey#251
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Holly? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Holly and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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