Meaning not yet researched.
Kelly: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 319 in 2025. Its best rank was #10 in 1977.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #10 in 1977; #852 in 2025. About 79% of babies named Kelly in 2025 were girls.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#852 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1977, at #10.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Kelly: US girls and boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 319 girls in 2025. Peak: #10 in 1977 · most girls in one year: 18,234 (1977).
In 2025, 319 US girls were named Kelly, making it the 852nd most common girls’ name of the year, up 15 places from #867 in 2024. That is 7 more than the 312 girls named Kelly in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #10, reached in 1977. That year also had the most girls given the name: 18,234. For comparison, it was #480 in 2015 and #904 in 1950.
In 2025, 84 US boys were named Kelly, making it the 1,881st most common boys’ name of the year, down 295 places from #1,586 in 2024. That is 25 fewer than the 109 boys named Kelly in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #97, reached in 1968. The most boys given the name in a single year was 3,093, in 1967. For comparison, it was #1,560 in 2015 and #307 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Kelly in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 5 babies with the name. In all, 556,365 US babies have been given the name, 85% of them girls and 15% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1960s, with 156,059 babies named Kelly.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 4,073 US girls were named Kelly; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 605. In 2025 that was about 1 in 5,038 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Kelly ranked highest in Massachusetts in 2025, at #460 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Kelley (52,385 babies since 1880), Keli (4,405 babies since 1880), Kelli (75,192 babies since 1880) and Kellie (51,108 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Keeli, Kelia and Kiely are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Keeli (1,190), Kelia (1,054), Kiely (849), Keilly (610), Keiley (516), Kealy (422), Keili (417), Kealey (381), Kelee (317), Kelie (273), Keyly (268), Kieley (263), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Kelly in the open dataset we use.
Kelly is listed as a nickname for Kelley.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 32 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 12 | #460 | #364 |
| New York | 37 | #468 | #276 |
| Maryland | 11 | #483 | #547 |
| Connecticut | 6 | #510 | — |
| Oklahoma | 7 | #578 | — |
| South Carolina | 8 | #587 | #445 |
| Florida | 26 | #664 | #428 |
| California | 46 | #678 | #356 |
| Virginia | 10 | #731 | #333 |
| Tennessee | 9 | #784 | #719 |
| Washington | 7 | #860 | #1,035 |
| Arizona | 7 | #866 | #476 |
| Texas | 33 | #886 | #514 |
| Illinois | 9 | #964 | #323 |
| Indiana | 6 | #985 | #657 |
| New Jersey | 7 | #988 | #302 |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | #1,060 | #430 |
| North Carolina | 7 | #1,211 | #413 |
| Georgia | 6 | #1,464 | #405 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 319 | #852 | 84 | #1,881 |
| 2024 | 312 | #867 | 109 | #1,586 |
| 2023 | 362 | #779 | 94 | #1,753 |
| 2022 | 347 | #809 | 122 | #1,486 |
| 2021 | 324 | #850 | 114 | #1,542 |
| 2020 | 366 | #746 | 110 | #1,520 |
| 2019 | 448 | #652 | 107 | #1,570 |
| 2018 | 486 | #618 | 103 | #1,597 |
| 2017 | 504 | #597 | 115 | #1,473 |
| 2016 | 605 | #515 | 118 | #1,460 |
| 2015 | 675 | #480 | 104 | #1,560 |
| 2014 | 740 | #433 | 105 | #1,528 |
| 2013 | 849 | #369 | 103 | #1,543 |
| 2012 | 892 | #357 | 106 | #1,521 |
| 2011 | 944 | #336 | 108 | #1,501 |
| 2010 | 1,061 | #306 | 101 | #1,571 |
| 2009 | 1,251 | #261 | 140 | #1,261 |
| 2008 | 1,399 | #248 | 113 | #1,459 |
| 2007 | 1,569 | #222 | 154 | #1,156 |
| 2006 | 1,611 | #212 | 139 | #1,208 |
| 2005 | 1,952 | #175 | 127 | #1,250 |
| 2004 | 2,357 | #138 | 160 | #1,026 |
| 2003 | 2,736 | #125 | 146 | #1,067 |
| 2002 | 2,852 | #119 | 185 | #884 |
| 2001 | 2,814 | #124 | 174 | #903 |
| 2000 | 3,077 | #111 | 202 | #799 |
| 1999 | 3,420 | #95 | 195 | #789 |
| 1998 | 3,703 | #90 | 240 | #698 |
| 1997 | 4,064 | #83 | 284 | #616 |
| 1996 | 4,734 | #73 | 339 | #551 |
| 1995 | 5,398 | #64 | 357 | #536 |
| 1994 | 5,446 | #62 | 385 | #514 |
| 1993 | 6,295 | #51 | 475 | #456 |
| 1992 | 7,012 | #47 | 534 | #417 |
| 1991 | 7,515 | #42 | 642 | #367 |
| 1990 | 8,137 | #41 | 687 | #351 |
| 1989 | 8,759 | #37 | 811 | #299 |
| 1988 | 8,917 | #32 | 740 | #307 |
| 1987 | 9,866 | #30 | 786 | #280 |
| 1986 | 10,411 | #29 | 873 | #255 |
| 1985 | 11,031 | #28 | 890 | #254 |
| 1984 | 11,216 | #27 | 985 | #228 |
| 1983 | 11,586 | #26 | 1,055 | #217 |
| 1982 | 12,170 | #25 | 1,270 | #197 |
| 1981 | 11,873 | #23 | 1,181 | #209 |
| 1980 | 13,710 | #19 | 1,183 | #210 |
| 1979 | 15,296 | #16 | 1,208 | #200 |
| 1978 | 16,976 | #12 | 1,308 | #180 |
| 1977 | 18,234 | #10 | 1,484 | #162 |
| 1976 | 11,791 | #19 | 1,540 | #158 |
| 1975 | 11,735 | #16 | 1,644 | #150 |
| 1974 | 10,851 | #15 | 1,758 | #143 |
| 1973 | 10,512 | #18 | 1,702 | #147 |
| 1972 | 10,944 | #23 | 1,917 | #140 |
| 1971 | 12,599 | #22 | 2,266 | #136 |
| 1970 | 14,607 | #20 | 2,494 | #135 |
| 1969 | 16,328 | #15 | 2,791 | #115 |
| 1968 | 17,138 | #12 | 3,059 | #97 |
| 1967 | 13,717 | #23 | 3,093 | #102 |
| 1966 | 13,242 | #26 | 2,784 | #111 |
| 1965 | 12,763 | #30 | 2,258 | #136 |
| 1964 | 12,470 | #35 | 2,492 | #132 |
| 1963 | 12,550 | #32 | 2,729 | #126 |
| 1962 | 11,530 | #38 | 2,855 | #125 |
| 1961 | 9,642 | #45 | 3,011 | #125 |
| 1960 | 8,673 | #52 | 2,934 | #128 |
| 1959 | 6,380 | #74 | 2,438 | #143 |
| 1958 | 4,471 | #108 | 2,299 | #148 |
| 1957 | 1,903 | #187 | 1,875 | #167 |
| 1956 | 830 | #309 | 1,468 | #190 |
| 1955 | 539 | #380 | 1,250 | #204 |
| 1954 | 453 | #406 | 965 | #224 |
| 1953 | 226 | #590 | 845 | #233 |
| 1952 | 296 | #490 | 805 | #235 |
| 1951 | 163 | #684 | 701 | #252 |
| 1950 | 97 | #904 | 488 | #307 |
| 1949 | 117 | #805 | 510 | #299 |
| 1948 | 83 | #959 | 379 | #346 |
| 1947 | 73 | #1,042 | 351 | #368 |
| 1946 | 51 | #1,214 | 283 | #389 |
| 1945 | 51 | #1,106 | 240 | #385 |
| 1944 | 60 | #1,011 | 275 | #363 |
| 1943 | 36 | #1,382 | 275 | #369 |
| 1942 | 36 | #1,359 | 249 | #385 |
| 1941 | 28 | #1,486 | 160 | #470 |
| 1940 | 24 | #1,613 | 142 | #485 |
| 1939 | 10 | #2,818 | 153 | #467 |
| 1938 | 18 | #1,908 | 137 | #497 |
| 1937 | 14 | #2,256 | 126 | #515 |
| 1936 | 13 | #2,330 | 138 | #481 |
| 1935 | 13 | #2,370 | 125 | #515 |
| 1934 | 11 | #2,652 | 144 | #474 |
| 1933 | 12 | #2,474 | 120 | #516 |
| 1932 | 14 | #2,306 | 105 | #579 |
| 1931 | 9 | #3,104 | 129 | #506 |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,485 | 117 | #556 |
| 1929 | 11 | #2,835 | 141 | #496 |
| 1928 | 11 | #2,877 | 128 | #539 |
| 1927 | 10 | #3,176 | 132 | #534 |
| 1926 | 12 | #2,802 | 123 | #548 |
| 1925 | 15 | #2,438 | 121 | #562 |
| 1924 | 10 | #3,257 | 125 | #570 |
| 1923 | 10 | #3,241 | 111 | #603 |
| 1922 | 13 | #2,681 | 141 | #523 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,436 | 133 | #541 |
| 1920 | 11 | #3,002 | 121 | #566 |
| 1919 | 8 | #3,633 | 144 | #496 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,442 | 118 | #554 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,519 | 131 | #501 |
| 1916 | 9 | #3,148 | 90 | #616 |
| 1915 | 5 | #4,614 | 101 | #566 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,191 | 92 | #511 |
| 1913 | — | — | 63 | #547 |
| 1912 | 7 | #2,506 | 57 | #527 |
| 1911 | 5 | #2,669 | 41 | #459 |
| 1910 | 6 | #2,286 | 46 | #386 |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,870 | 26 | #512 |
| 1908 | 5 | #2,274 | 25 | #508 |
| 1907 | 5 | #2,216 | 29 | #433 |
| 1906 | — | — | 20 | #512 |
| 1905 | — | — | 11 | #771 |
| 1904 | — | — | 13 | #666 |
| 1903 | — | — | 21 | #461 |
| 1902 | — | — | 16 | #546 |
| 1901 | — | — | 12 | #622 |
| 1900 | — | — | 33 | #390 |
| 1899 | — | — | 9 | #755 |
| 1898 | — | — | 10 | #722 |
| 1897 | — | — | 15 | #537 |
| 1896 | — | — | 14 | #573 |
| 1895 | — | — | 23 | #406 |
| 1894 | — | — | 12 | #611 |
| 1893 | — | — | 21 | #396 |
| 1892 | — | — | 18 | #470 |
| 1891 | — | — | 9 | #674 |
| 1890 | — | — | 11 | #621 |
| 1889 | — | — | 17 | #451 |
| 1888 | — | — | 10 | #676 |
| 1887 | — | — | 13 | #500 |
| 1886 | — | — | 16 | #462 |
| 1885 | — | — | 15 | #492 |
| 1884 | — | — | 10 | #640 |
| 1883 | — | — | 12 | #543 |
| 1882 | — | — | 13 | #526 |
| 1881 | — | — | 8 | #676 |
| 1880 | — | — | 5 | #995 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).