Dolly

Heart
English, diminutive of Dorothy
"gift of God"

Dolly Origin and Meaning

The name Dolly is a girl's name of English origin meaning "gift of God".

Hello, Dolly! Okay, we couldn't resist, but be warned: Most people who meet your little Dolly won't be able to either. This nickname-name, rarely heard since whatever decade Dolly Parton was born, is singing a fashionable note again along with sisters Dottie and Dixie; it was chosen for one of their twin girls by Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell.

Dolly has been used on its own since the seventeenth century, so common then that it became a generic term for a favored girl. In the US, Dolly was a Top 300 name around the turn of the last century. The fourth First Lady of the United States spelled her name variously as Dolly and Dolley Madison. And of course Dolly Levi is the name of the central character in the iconic musical bearing her name.

Trivia tidbit: Dolly, the sheep that was the first mammal to be cloned, was named after Dolly Parton.

# 960 in the US

Dolly Rank in US Top 1000

# 865 on Nameberry

Dolly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Dolly Popularity

20 Names Similar to Dolly

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Dolly.

Famous People Named Dolly

  • Dolly Rebecca PartonAmerican country music singer
  • Dorothy Clara Louise "Dolly" HaasGerman,American actress, wife of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld
  • Dorothy Theresa "Dolly" HallAmerican film producer
  • Dorothy Ann "Dolly" CollinsEnglish folk musician
  • Dolly Buster aka Nora Baumberger (born Nora Dvořáková)Czech,American actress
  • Dolly JacobsAmerican circus aerialist
  • Dorothy "Dolly" PeelEnglish fishwife and smuggler
  • Dorothy "Dolly" PentreathLast native Cornish speaker
  • Dolly RathebeSouth African singer/actress
  • Dolly VanderlipAll,American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher
  • Dolly BanksBaddiel (b. 2001), daughter of actress Morwenna Banks
  • Dolly Rebecca Rose O'Connell (b. 2009)daughter of actors Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell
  • The Dolly SistersJenny and Rosie Dolly, Hungarian,American identical twin dancers and actresses, famous in the 1920s
  • Dolly Castro (b. 1984) Fitness Model & Instagram Star
  • DollyRose Campbell, English actress

Dolly in Pop Culture

  • Darya "Dolly" Alexandrovna Oblonskayacharacter in Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"
  • Dolly Gallagher Levimain character in Thornton Wilder's "The Matchmaker" and musical "Hello, Dolly!"
  • Dolly Meriwethercharacter in Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind"
  • Dolly Keanecharacter in The Family Circus comic strip
  • Dolly Skilbeckcharacter on British soap "Emmerdale"
  • Dolly Rawlinscharacter in "Widows"
  • Dollydoll in Pixar's "Toy Story 3"
  • Dollyoccasional nickname for Dolores "Lolita" Haze in Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" ("she was Dolly at school")
  • DollyScottish cloned sheep
  • "Dolly Dagger" song by Jimi Hendrix
  • "Little Dolly Daydream" English music hall song by Leslie Stuart.
  • Dollya character featured in Billion Surprise Toys videos. The doctor told her to never play in the rain, and she replied, "okay sure I will do like that"