Girls' name · peaked in 1938
Sally name popularity since 1925
185,581 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Sally. Half of them were born in 1950 or earlier, so the typical Sally is about 76 years old in 2026. Sally peaked in 1938 as the #54 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 185,581
- Named Sally, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,158 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 184,991 girls · 590 boys
- Most popular in
- Vermont
- 2.18× its national share
Peak year is the year Sally 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.
Sally births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1947. Measured as a share of all babies, Sally peaked in 1938.
- Fastest rise: Between 1925 and 1930, Sally became 2.1× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1964 and 1969, its share of baby girls fell by 46%, from 1 in 700 to 1 in 1,290.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Sally's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Sally.
Decade by decade
Babies named Sally 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 | 8,507 | 41 | – |
| 1930s | 34,680 | 158 | #58 |
| 1940s | 45,344 | 151 | #64 |
| 1950s | 46,706 | 99 | #95 |
| 1960s | 24,344 | 78 | #162 |
| 1970s | 9,275 | 30 | #256 |
| 1980s | 6,127 | 16 | #399 |
| 1990s | 4,166 | 17 | #586 |
| 2000s | 2,582 | 0 | #1,003 |
| 2010s | 2,095 | 0 | #1,141 |
| 2020–25 | 1,165 | 0 | #1,158 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
44.5% of babies named Sally from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Sally is most popular
The index compares Sally'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 Sally.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 2.18× | 670 |
| Maine | 2.01× | 1,582 |
| Michigan | 1.89× | 13,296 |
| Wisconsin | 1.70× | 6,177 |
| Wyoming | 1.66× | 414 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Sally 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sally (this page) | 184,991 | 1938 |
| Sallie | 22,941 | 1881 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Sally's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Sally.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Sally (1938).
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