Mostly girls · peaked in 1968
Kelley name popularity since 1925
51,828 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kelley (88.9% girls, 11.1% boys). Half of them were born in 1974 or earlier, so the typical Kelley is about 52 years old in 2026. Kelley peaked in 1968 as the #168 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 51,828
- Named Kelley, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #7,322 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 88.9% girls
- 46,088 girls · 5,740 boys
- Most popular in
- New Hampshire
- 2.59× its national share
Peak year is the year Kelley made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Kelley births per year, 1925–2025
1968 was the biggest year for Kelley both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1956 and 1961, Kelley became 7.8× more common, from 1 in 12,600 baby girls to 1 in 1,610.
- Steepest fall: Between 1996 and 2001, its share of baby girls fell by 57%, from 1 in 4,990 to 1 in 11,600.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kelley's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kelley.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kelley in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 149 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 233 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 81 | 359 | #2,534 |
| 1950s | 2,237 | 891 | #1,066 |
| 1960s | 14,747 | 1,370 | #222 |
| 1970s | 12,745 | 1,059 | #211 |
| 1980s | 9,788 | 795 | #315 |
| 1990s | 4,935 | 417 | #556 |
| 2000s | 1,111 | 221 | #2,419 |
| 2010s | 329 | 169 | #4,921 |
| 2020–25 | 115 | 77 | #7,322 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
46.0% of babies named Kelley from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Kelley is most popular
The index compares Kelley's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Kelley.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 2.59× | 377 |
| Maine | 2.29× | 453 |
| Massachusetts | 1.76× | 1,931 |
| Connecticut | 1.39× | 695 |
| Ohio | 1.39× | 2,968 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kelley and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Kelley (this page) | 46,088 | 1968 |
| Kelly | 473,816 | 1977 |
| Kelli | 74,891 | 1970 |
| Kellie | 50,744 | 1969 |
| Keli | 4,356 | 1979 |
| Kellee | 3,714 | 1978 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kelley's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kelley.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kelley (1968).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data