Mostly girls · peaked in 1977
Kelly name popularity since 1925
554,235 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kelly (85.5% girls, 14.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1976 or earlier, so the typical Kelly is about 50 years old in 2026. Kelly peaked in 1977 as the #10 name for girls, and it ranked #852 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 554,235
- Named Kelly, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #852
- for girls in 2025 (319 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 85.5% girls
- 473,816 girls · 80,419 boys
- Most popular in
- Wyoming
- 1.64× its national share
Peak year is the year Kelly 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.
Kelly births per year, 1925–2025
1977 was the biggest year for Kelly both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1953 and 1958, Kelly became 19× more common, from 1 in 8,320 baby girls to 1 in 450.
- Steepest fall: Between 2003 and 2008, its share of baby girls fell by 51%, from 1 in 668 to 1 in 1,350.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kelly's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kelly.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kelly 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 | 59 | 645 | – |
| 1930s | 127 | 1,294 | #2,370 |
| 1940s | 559 | 2,864 | #1,106 |
| 1950s | 15,358 | 13,134 | #380 |
| 1960s | 128,053 | 28,006 | #30 |
| 1970s | 133,545 | 17,321 | #16 |
| 1980s | 109,539 | 9,774 | #28 |
| 1990s | 55,724 | 4,138 | #64 |
| 2000s | 21,618 | 1,540 | #175 |
| 2010s | 7,204 | 1,070 | #480 |
| 2020–25 | 2,030 | 633 | #852 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
45.6% of babies named Kelly from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Kelly is most popular
The index compares Kelly'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 Kelly.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | 1.64× | 1,233 |
| Montana | 1.51× | 2,457 |
| Delaware | 1.44× | 1,664 |
| Minnesota | 1.39× | 14,122 |
| Wisconsin | 1.38× | 15,100 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kelly 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kelly (this page) | 473,816 | 1977 |
| Kelli | 74,891 | 1970 |
| Kellie | 50,744 | 1969 |
| Kelley | 46,088 | 1968 |
| Keli | 4,356 | 1979 |
| Kellee | 3,714 | 1978 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kelly's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kelly.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kelly (1977).
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