Sally
Feminine · “Pet form of Sarah”
Sally is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 205,229 girls against 647 boys since 1880. See Sally as a boy name
Sally is Sarah said the English nursery way, with the r softened to an l, and it has been a full name in its own right for about three centuries. It has been a Bath teacake, a soul song, and the name of the first American woman in space.
How old is the name Sally?
Sally was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Sally alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 124,000 people named Sally are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sally most popular?
Sally peaked in 1939, reaching #52 nationally. Today it ranks #1150, 1,098 places below that high. See the whole 1939 chart.
Where it comes from
From Sarah to Sally
The story of Sally
Sally grew up in English as the everyday form of Sarah and was being given as a name in its own right by the eighteenth century. In Bath a rich, light teacake called a Sally Lunn has been sold since at least the late eighteenth century; the house that sells it tells of a Huguenot refugee baker of that name, but no record of her has been found, and the bun may simply have borrowed an ordinary girl's name. The most famous bearer is recent: in June 1983 the physicist Sally Ride flew aboard the shuttle Challenger and became the first American woman in space, and she later served on the boards that investigated both shuttle disasters.
Meaning
Pet form of Sarah, 'princess' in Hebrew
Sarah is Hebrew for 'princess' or 'noblewoman'. Sally came from it the same way Molly came from Mary and Dolly from Dorothy, with the r replaced by an l in the pet form.
How the name formed
- Sarah
- Sally
Related forms: Sarah · Sara · Sara · Sallie
Pronouncing Sally
SAL-ee
Rhymes with valley; the a is short.
Nicknames for Sally
Limited
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 girls named
- 19515,138 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #52reached in 1939
- Change vs 2022
- +14.2%201 in 2025, from 176
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.
Sally in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sarah in Hebrew — related form
- Sara in Spanish — related form
- Sara in Italian — related form
- Sallie in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Sallys among us
people named Sally are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,996 born in 2025 was named Sally
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 Anne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sally's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anne climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anne's path sketches the road Sally is walking now.
Sally 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 Sally is headed
Sally 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.
Sally beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sally in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Instantly familiar and spelled the way it sounds.
- An unbroken history in English stretching back to the eighteenth century.
- Rooted in Sarah, one of the oldest names in the Bible.
- Sally Ride gives it a modern bearer of real distinction.
- Sally is still often taken as a nickname, so people may assume a longer formal name, usually Sarah, stands behind it.
- 'Mustang Sally' and 'sally forth' are the phrases people reach for, and a Sally will hear both.
- The spelling is recorded occasionally for boys, but it is a girl's name in every tradition behind it, and a boy called Sally would face constant explanation.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Sally to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Sally
Feminine · #1150 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sallys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 124,000 people named Sally are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sally in 2025?
- Sally ranks #1150 among US girl names in 2025, with 201 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sally?
- About 1 in every 7,996 US girls born in 2025 was named Sally — 201 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sally with classmates?
- Sally will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sally
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Amyra#1150 · Kathleen#1150 · Amariah#1150 · Kimora#1150 · Dariana#1150 · Jaycee#1150 · Adela#1150 · Abril#1150
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sally? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sally and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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