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Molly

The name Molly peaked for boys at #2135 in 1989. Molly is also used for girls, ranking #196 in 2025.

The name Molly is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter".

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Molly is one of the original nickname names, ALWAYS ranking among the US Top 500 girl names since statistics began, in 1880. Molly peaked in 1991 only to rise just as high again in 2011, and though softening retains a good measure of popularity and charm.
 
What is Molly short for? Molly originated as a diminutive of Mary, spawning from medieval variations Malle and Molle. Molly has been used as a stand-alone pet form of Mary since the Middle Ages, and has been consistently popular as an independent name in the U.S. over the past several decades.
 Likable and down-to-earth, mild yet saucy, Molly has a distinctly Irish feel as well, with such Gaelic associations as 'Sweet Molly Malone' and the martyred reformers known as the Molly Maguires. In the Jewish culture, Molly Goldberg was an early television personality. 
 Other references include the Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher and the Molly Bloom character in James Joyce's Ulysses, as well as characters in novels by Fielding, Hardy, George Eliot, Dickens and Thackeray. More recently, "Good Golly, Miss Molly" was a Little Richard hit and Molly Ringwald a celebrity bearer.
 Amanda Peet is the mother of a Molly, as are Monica Potter and Veronica Webb.

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The name Molly is currently ranked #196 in U.S. births. and peaked for girls at #74 in 1991. The name is most popular in Vermont, Wyoming, and Wyoming. Molly is occasionally used for boys in 2014.

Mary

Polly

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
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2020	—	0	0
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2023	—	0	0
2024	—	0	0
2025	—	0	0

Molly

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