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Girl · Old English
Holly
Say it: HOL-ee
Meaning
From the name of the evergreen plant, Old English holegn.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Used as a girls' name since the early 20th century, often for Christmas births, and popular in the US from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1980s
In the United States
- 203,294 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1983, about 1 in 262 girls
- 629 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Hollie
Famous bearers
- Holly Hunter, American actress
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.