How Many People Are Named Kelly?
people named Kelly are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 670 people in the US has this name
Based on 556,365 babies named Kelly in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐⭐ Common
Peak Year
20,197 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Anglicized form of the Irish given name CEALLACH or the surname derived from it Ó Ceallaigh. As a surname, it has been borne by actor and dancer Gene Kelly (1912-1996) and actress and princess Grace Kelly (1929-1982).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Kelly in English. Counting Kelly and these spellings together, about 557,042 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Kelly, 87.1% were girls and 12.9% were boys. The share of girls among babies named Kelly rose from 0% in the 1880s to 76.2% in the 2020s. It was highest in the 2000s, at 93.4%.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Kelly alive today is about 47 years old, and 71% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 39 and 57 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Kelly first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1968, to 20,197 babies. In 2025, 403 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Kelly reached #10 among girls' names in 1977, and was in the top 10 in 1977. In 2025 it ranked #852. Among boys, its best rank was #97, in 1968.
| Girls | Boys | |
|---|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #852 | #1,881 |
| Best rank | #10 (1977) | #97 (1968) |
| Years in the top 10 | 1 | None |
| Years in the top 100 | 41 (1959 to 1999) | 1 (1968 to 1968) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #14 in the 1970s | #123 in the 1960s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Kelly alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Kelly were born in California than in any other state: about 50,932 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Kelly was given 1.6 times as often in Wyoming, 1.5 times in Montana and 1.5 times in North Dakota.
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