Kelly
About Kelly
A predominantly male name in the US until the late 1950s, the name continued to rise for both sexes for both sexes for a further decade, before starting to decline for boys. Despite dropping out of the boys' Top 1000 in 2002, Kelly retains a rugged Irish charm.
The name derives from Gaelic ceallach/em> "war" or ceall "church". It is also sometimes said to mean "bright-headed".
Famous fictional namesakes include 1960s (male) TV spy Kelly Robinson, as well as one of the (female) Charlie's Angels. Real-life namesakes include actor and dancer Gene Kelly, as well as the legendary Grace Kelly.
As of October 2026, Kelly ranked #1881 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #97 in 1968.
Editor's take: The name Kelly is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "war".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,528 | 105 | 54.7 |
| 2015 | #1,559 | 104 | 54.3 |
| 2016 | #1,460 | 118 | 62.2 |
| 2017 | #1,472 | 115 | 62.1 |
| 2018 | #1,597 | 103 | 56.7 |
| 2019 | #1,570 | 107 | 59.6 |
| 2020 | #1,520 | 110 | 63.7 |
| 2021 | #1,540 | 114 | 65.2 |
| 2022 | #1,485 | 122 | 69.9 |
| 2023 | #1,749 | 94 | 55 |
| 2024 | #1,579 | 109 | 63.3 |
| 2025 | #1,881 | 84 | 49.2 |
World rankings
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Kelly on lists
Famous Kellys
- Kelly Slater
American surfer
- Kelly Steven Blatz
American actor
- Kelly Johnson
American baseball player
- Kelly Deshawn McCarty
American basketball player
- Kelly Wayne Chase
Canadian ice hockey player
- Kelly Wayne Gruber
American baseball player
- (Bryan) Kelly Holcomb
American football player
- Kelly L. Kirchbaum
American football player
- Kelly Tyler Olynyk
Canadian basketball player
- Kelly Lee Stinnett
American baseball player
- (Peter) Kelly Tripucka
American basketball player
- Kelly Crawford Perdew
American businessman and TV personality of "The Apprentice"
- Kelly Robert Pavlik
American boxer
- Kelly Hrudey
Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson
American systems engineer and aeronaut
- Kelly Jones
Welsh singer of band Stereophonics
- Kelly Reno
American actor
- Kelly Monteith
American comedian
- Kelly Makin
Canadian film director
- Kelly Jones
American tennis player
- Gene Kelly
American dancer/actor
- Ned Kelly
Australian outlaw
- Nat Kelly Cole
adopted son of Nat King Cole
- River Kelly Smith (b. 2016)
son of country singer Granger Smith
- Kelly Paul Oubre Jr
American basketball player
- Kelly Barnhill
american children's author
Kelly in pop culture
- Kelly Severide
Taylor Kinney's character on the TV series "Chicago Fire"
- Kelly Schade
Burkhardt, son of Adalind Schade & Nick Burkhardt 'Grimm'
- Dr. Kelly Brackett
character on TV's "Emergency!"
- Kelly Quinn
character on show "just add magic"