Girls' name · peaked in 1970
Kelli name popularity since 1925
75,192 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kelli. Half of them were born in 1978 or earlier, so the typical Kelli is about 48 years old in 2026. Kelli peaked in 1970 as the #115 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 75,192
- Named Kelli, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #6,690 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 74,891 girls · 301 boys
- Most popular in
- South Dakota
- 2.13× its national share
Peak year is the year Kelli 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.
Kelli births per year, 1925–2025
1970 was the biggest year for Kelli both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1956 and 1961, Kelli became 8.3× more common, from 1 in 15,200 baby girls to 1 in 1,830.
- Steepest fall: Between 2001 and 2006, its share of baby girls fell by 68%, from 1 in 4,020 to 1 in 12,500.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kelli's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kelli.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kelli 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 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 19 | 0 | #4,902 |
| 1950s | 1,986 | 0 | #1,038 |
| 1960s | 16,867 | 52 | #215 |
| 1970s | 21,540 | 97 | #152 |
| 1980s | 21,049 | 126 | #142 |
| 1990s | 10,237 | 26 | #301 |
| 2000s | 2,570 | 0 | #1,187 |
| 2010s | 490 | 0 | #3,734 |
| 2020–25 | 133 | 0 | #6,690 |
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
46.1% of babies named Kelli from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Kelli is most popular
The index compares Kelli'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 Kelli.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 2.13× | 501 |
| Nebraska | 2.08× | 1,076 |
| Iowa | 2.01× | 1,885 |
| Idaho | 2.00× | 588 |
| Oklahoma | 1.92× | 1,840 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kelli 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kelli (this page) | 74,891 | 1970 |
| Kelly | 473,816 | 1977 |
| Kellie | 50,744 | 1969 |
| Kelley | 46,088 | 1968 |
| 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 Kelli's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kelli.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kelli (1970).
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