Girl or boy · Irish
Kelly
Say it: KEL-ee
Meaning
From the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh, 'descendant of Ceallach'. The meaning of Ceallach is debated ('bright-headed', 'troublesome' and 'church-goer' have all been proposed).
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Used first for boys, it became a popular US girls' name in the 1970s.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1970s
In the United States
- 554,190 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1977, about 1 in 84 girls
- 468 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Kelley, Kellie
| Irish | Ó Ceallaigh |
|---|
Famous bearers
- Kelly Clarkson, US singer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Irish annals and early Irish literature
- 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.