Tally
Feminine · “English tally”
Tally is given to both — 562 girls and 137 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
A tally was a stick. Latin talea meant a cutting or a twig, and medieval accounting used notched hazel rods, split lengthwise so that debtor and creditor each held half and neither could alter the record. The English Exchequer kept its accounts this way for six hundred years, and in 1834 burned the obsolete sticks in a furnace under Parliament and burned Parliament down with them.
How old is the name Tally?
Tally first appears in US birth records in 1947 — 78 years ago. The typical Tally alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 500 people named Tally are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tally most popular?
Tally peaked in 1958, reaching #2663 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 5,222 places below that high. See the whole 1958 chart.
Where it comes from
From talea to Tally
The story of Tally
The tally stick is one of the great forgotten technologies. A single rod was notched to record a sum, the notches cut at different widths for pounds, shillings and pence, and then split down its length so that the grain of the wood made each half unique to the other. The stock, the larger half, went to the creditor, and the foil to the debtor. To verify a debt you fitted the two halves together. The system was tamper-proof, illiterate-friendly and lasted in England from the twelfth century to 1826. Eight years later the Exchequer decided to dispose of the accumulated centuries of sticks by burning them in the stoves beneath the House of Lords. The flues overheated, the Palace of Westminster caught fire, and the building that stands there now was built to replace it.
Meaning
English tally, from Latin talea, a cutting or rod
As a word, tally comes through Anglo-Norman from Latin talea, a slip of wood, and refers to the notched stick used for keeping accounts. As a name, Tally is more often a short form of Natalie or Talia than a use of the noun, and the two paths are impossible to separate in the records. Both readings are current, and the 1958 peak sits in a period when clipped forms of longer names were being registered directly.
How the name formed
- talea
- tally
- Tally
Related forms: Tali · Tallie
Pronouncing Tally
TAL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, short a. Identical to the English noun. Tallie and Talley are the same name spelled differently, and Tali, from Hebrew, is said the same way with a longer first vowel.
Nicknames for Tally
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
- 1947
- Most girls named
- 195819 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2663reached in 1958
- Change vs 2024
- +44.4%13 in 2025, from 9
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.
Tally in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tali in Hebrew — related form
- Tallie in English — spelling variant
Tallys among us
people named Tally are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Tally
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Tally
- #7885
- Tally on the 2025 chart
- #890
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Tally went to 13 girls in 2025, but Tali is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 70, which makes it the 890th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,995 places above the chart.
- Tali57
- Tally13
About 1 girl in 22,961 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Tally 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 Julanne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tally's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Julanne climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Julanne's path sketches the road Tally is walking now.
Tally 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
Tally beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tally in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, cheerful and never mispronounced.
- It works as a full name or as a short form of Natalie or Talia.
- The word behind it has a real and vivid history.
- It is a common noun and will be read as one.
- Tally, Tallie and Talley all exist.
- Many people will assume it stands for something longer.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Tally to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Tally
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tallys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Tally are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Tally?
- Tally is one of 2 recorded spellings. Tali is the more common one — 57 births in 2025 against 13 for Tally.
- How popular is the name Tally in 2025?
- Tally ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tally?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Tally — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tally with classmates?
- Tally will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tally
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tally? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tally and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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