Polly
2025 SSA
About Polly
An alternative to the no-longer-fresh Molly, the initial 'P' gives Polly a peppier sound, combining the cozy virtues of an old-timey name with the bounce of a barmaid.
Associated with Tom Sawyer's aunt, 'Polly, put the kettle on,' parrots, Polly Peachum, Nirvana and Kinks songs, and the movie Along Came Polly, as well as characters in Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes, C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and now on the Netflix show Orange is the New Black, Polly never achieved the comeback that her cousin did, perhaps because she sounds too Pollyanna-ish.
Although she has been off the Social Security list for decades, Polly sits in the middle of the Nameberry's own Top 1000. We'd love to see some new baby Pollys!
Pronounced PAH-lee.
As of October 2026, Polly ranked #2318 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #225 in 1881, Nameberry popularity #388.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,217 | 51 | 28.5 |
| 2015 | #3,244 | 51 | 28.6 |
| 2016 | #3,213 | 51 | 28.8 |
| 2017 | #3,425 | 46 | 26.6 |
| 2018 | #3,147 | 52 | 30.6 |
| 2019 | #3,259 | 49 | 29.2 |
| 2020 | #2,995 | 54 | 33.4 |
| 2021 | #2,742 | 63 | 38.4 |
| 2022 | #2,595 | 68 | 41.5 |
| 2023 | #2,668 | 66 | 41.1 |
| 2024 | #2,206 | 86 | 53.1 |
| 2025 | #2,318 | 79 | 49.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Polly.
- Minnie
- Betty
- Dottie
- Betsy
- Dolly
- Peggy
- Dot
- Frannie
- Penny
- Nellie
- Sally
- Tavie
- Bettylou
- Lou
- Jean
- Lois
- Bess
- Bonnie
- Wendy
- Mamie
Polly on lists
Famous Pollys
- Polly Coke
Viscountess Coke
- Polly Jean "P.J." Harvey
British singer,songwriter
- Pauline "Polly" Adams
English actress
- Pearl "Polly" Adler
American madam and author
- Polly Bemis
Chinese,American pioneer
- Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin)
American singer and actress
- Polly Berry
American slave who sued for her freedom
- Polly Bradfield
American violinist
- Polly Borland
Australian photographer
- Polly Brown
English singer
- Polly Carey Draper
American actress
- Polly Dunbar
English author and illustrator
- Polly Durant
American cellist
- Polly Dean Holliday
American actress
- Polly Emery
British actress
- Pauline Theresa "Polly" Moran
American actress and comedian
- Mary Marr "Polly" Platt
American film producer
- Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger
French immunologist
- Polly Shannon
Canadian actress
- Polly Hannah Klaas
American child murder victim
- Polly Paulusma
English singer,songwriter
- Polly Lucinda Maberly
English actress
- Polly Scattergood
English singer,songwriter
- Polly Stenham
English playwright
- Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee
English journalist
- Polly Perkins (born Gillian Nessie Arnold)
English actress and singer
- Polly Horvath
American,Canadian children's author
- Polly James
English actress
- Polly Samson
English novelist
- Polly Ward
British singer and actress
- Polly Alexandra Walker
English actress
- Polly Young
English soprano and composer
- Polly Ann Young
American actress; sister of actress Loretta Young
- Polly Maness (b. 2018)
daughter of actress Erika Christensen and husband Cole Maness
Polly in pop culture
- Aunt Polly
Tom Sawyer's guardian in the book/film by Mark Twain
- Pauline "Polly" Fossil
character in Noel Streatfeild's "Ballet Shoes"
- Polly Sherman
character in "Fawlty Towers"
- Polly Plummer
character in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
- Polly Wright
companion of the Doctor from BBCs Doctor Who
- Polly Harper
character on TV's "Orange Is the New Black"
- Polly Cooper
older sister of Betty in Archie Comics and TV's Riverdale
- Polly Perkins
from movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
- Sweet Polly Purebred
character on animated series "Underdog"
- Polly
librarian in "The Cat Who" series by Lilian Jackson Braun
- Polly Becker
character on British soap "EastEnders"
- Polyhymnia "Polly" O'Keefe
character in a series of books by Madeleine L'Engle
- Polly Baker
character in the musical "Crazy for You"
- Polly Kemp
character in children's novel "The Wish Giver"
- Elizabeth "Polly" Gray
character on TV's "Peaky Blinders"
- Polly Brown
character in Kit Pearson's "The Whole Truth"
- Polly Parsons
character in film "I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House"
- Polly Pocket
line of miniature dolls
- Polly
stereotypical parrot name ("Polly want a cracker")
- "Polly
" song by Nirvana
- "Sweet Polly Oliver
" English folk song about a cross,dressing girl
- "Little Polly Flinders
" English nursery rhyme
- Polly Peachum
character in The Threepenny/Beggars Opera by John Gay and Bertholt Brecht
- Paulina Mary "Polly" Home/de Bassompierre
character in Villette by Charlotte Bronte
- Polaris "Polly" Klepsky
Nonbinary character from the webcomic "Sparklecare Hospital"
- Princess Polly
Clothing store