The name Kelly is of Irish origin, and means warrior.
The table below indicates the number of times the name Kelly has been given to baby boys in recent years.
The last 125 years refers to 1880 through 2004; last year refers to 2004.
The rank and count values are based on U.S. Social Security Administration counts for the one thousand most popular names given to baby boys in each of these years.
Cumulative Usage Chart for the Name Kelly
Use of the Name Kelly for Boys During the Last ...
125 Years
50 Years
25 Years
10 Years
5 Years
2 Years
1 Year
79,647
69,071
14,457
1,967
555
0
0
The table below indicates the number of times the name Kelly has been given to baby boys and baby girls each year, from 1880 through 2004.
A blank entry indicates that the name did not rank among the top one thousand names given to boys or girls, respectively, during the specified year.
Yearly Usage Chart for the Name Kelly
Used as a Boy Name
Used as a Girl Name
Year
Rank
Count
Rank
Count
1880
994
5
1881
676
8
1882
526
13
1883
543
12
1884
640
10
1885
492
15
1886
462
16
1887
499
13
1888
675
10
1889
451
17
1890
621
11
1891
674
9
1892
471
18
1893
396
21
1894
611
12
1895
406
23
1896
574
14
1897
538
15
1898
722
10
1899
755
9
1900
390
33
1901
622
12
1902
546
16
1903
462
21
1904
667
13
1905
773
11
1906
512
20
1907
431
29
1908
508
25
1909
511
26
1910
385
46
1911
459
41
1912
527
57
1913
547
63
1914
512
91
1915
566
101
1916
616
90
1917
501
132
1918
549
121
1919
504
140
1920
566
121
1921
541
133
1922
525
140
1923
601
112
1924
574
124
1925
556
123
1926
552
122
1927
532
133
1928
538
128
1929
497
139
1930
557
117
1931
506
129
1932
584
103
1933
516
120
1934
473
144
1935
514
125
1936
481
138
1937
516
126
1938
499
136
1939
463
155
1940
488
141
1941
467
161
1942
386
251
1943
369
274
1944
366
272
1000
61
1945
381
243
1946
390
279
1947
371
348
1948
341
386
957
83
1949
301
503
802
117
1950
307
489
901
97
1951
251
699
683
164
1952
233
810
490
294
1953
232
845
590
226
1954
225
958
406
456
1955
203
1,249
380
539
1956
189
1,469
310
831
1957
168
1,864
187
1,908
1958
148
2,300
108
4,472
1959
143
2,427
74
6,377
1960
128
2,934
50
8,683
1961
125
2,997
45
9,626
1962
125
2,863
38
11,524
1963
126
2,719
32
12,549
1964
132
2,491
35
12,480
1965
136
2,260
30
12,753
1966
112
2,787
26
13,245
1967
102
3,086
23
13,717
1968
97
3,056
12
17,117
1969
115
2,792
15
16,327
1970
135
2,500
20
14,605
1971
136
2,263
22
12,585
1972
138
1,921
23
10,935
1973
146
1,700
18
10,510
1974
142
1,759
16
10,840
1975
150
1,641
16
11,730
1976
158
1,541
19
11,779
1977
162
1,484
10
18,228
1978
179
1,307
12
16,960
1979
200
1,204
16
15,287
1980
209
1,181
19
13,709
1981
209
1,182
23
11,862
1982
197
1,271
25
12,150
1983
218
1,051
26
11,579
1984
228
985
27
11,204
1985
255
889
28
11,027
1986
255
872
29
10,406
1987
280
785
30
9,860
1988
307
738
32
8,908
1989
299
813
37
8,761
1990
351
685
41
8,131
1991
367
643
42
7,508
1992
417
535
47
7,011
1993
456
474
51
6,299
1994
513
386
62
5,440
1995
534
357
63
5,396
1996
552
337
72
4,735
1997
615
284
83
4,063
1998
699
238
89
3,698
1999
784
196
95
3,413
2000
802
200
111
3,072
2001
909
171
124
2,810
2002
884
184
120
2,844
2003
124
2,725
2004
138
2,321
Totals:
79,647
456,037
During the last 125 years, parents have used Kelly as a boy's name about 14% of the time and more frequently (about 85% of the time) as a girl's name.
Cumulative counts and total counts shown on the above tables are slightly lower than actual counts because the name Kelly appears in the top 1,000 boy names only 123 times during the last 125 years.