Sally
2025 SSA
About Sally
Sally is a cheerful, fresh-faced girl-next-door name that was originally a nickname for Sarah, but has long been used independently. Sally was popular in the eighteenth century and then again from the 1920s to the 1960s--it was just outside the Top 50 around 1940. Though it hasn't been heard as a baby name for decades, we can see Sally bouncing back, especially after her exposure as young Ms. Draper on Mad Men--the Nameberries rank it at Number 621, and it's a Top 100 name in Sweden.
Sally has a ton of notable references--a few we can single out are astronaut Sally Ride, actress Sally Field, the Sally Bowles character in Cabaret, the movie When Harry Met Sally and songs like Long Tall Sally and Mustang Sally.
Pronounced SAL-ee.
As of October 2026, Sally ranked #1158 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #52 in 1939, Nameberry popularity #280.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,176 | 209 | 117 |
| 2015 | #1,141 | 222 | 124.4 |
| 2016 | #1,187 | 211 | 119.1 |
| 2017 | #1,052 | 245 | 141.9 |
| 2018 | #1,212 | 195 | 114.6 |
| 2019 | #1,401 | 161 | 95.9 |
| 2020 | #1,169 | 200 | 123.7 |
| 2021 | #1,228 | 192 | 117 |
| 2022 | #1,339 | 176 | 107.3 |
| 2023 | #1,329 | 171 | 106.6 |
| 2024 | #1,098 | 223 | 137.6 |
| 2025 | #1,158 | 201 | 125.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Sally.
- Nancy
- Wendy
- Peggy
- Jean
- Georgienne
- Shoshannah
- Gloria
- Betty
- Sallie
- Betsy
- Tavie
- Polly
- Virginia
- Dora
- Minnie
- Joan
- Penny
- Martha
- Barbara
- Lois
Sally on lists
Famous Sallys
- Sally Margaret Field
American actress
- Sally Anne Struthers
American actress
- Sally Cecilia Hawkins
English actress
- Sarah Margaret "Sally" Roffey Jewell
51st U.S. Secretary of the Interior
- Sarah "Sally" Hemings
slave of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, and mother to his children
- Sally Claire Kellerman
American actress
- Sally Turner Mann
American photographer
- Sally Kristen Ride
first American woman in space
- Sally Dynevor
English actress
- Sally Anne Bowman
English model
- Sally Jane Morgan
Australian Aboriginal author and artist
- Sally Carrighar
American naturalist and writer
- Sally Alina Ingeborg Salminen
Finnish author
- Sally Chepyego Kaptich
Kenyan long,distance runner
- Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck)
American burlesque dancer and actress
- Sally Jing
Chinese actress
- Sally Caroline Quillian Yates
Deputy Attorney General of the United States
- Sally Fitzgibbons
Australian professional surfer
- Sally Bradshaw
Republican political operative
- Sally June Mulroney (b. 2009)
daughter of American actor Dermot Mulroney
- Sally James McDonald
Swenson (b. 2016), daughter of actors Audra McDonald and Will Swenson
Sally in pop culture
- Sally Brown
sister of Charlie Brown in the comic strip "Peanuts"
- Sally Owens
main character in the Book and Film Practical Magic
- Sally
main character in "Practice Makes Perfect" (2012)
- Sally
little sister of Dick and Jane in early readers
- Sally
character in "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
- Sally Albright
character in the '80s hit "When Harry Met Sally..."
- Sally Draper
character from TV's "Mad Men"
- Sally Malik
character on the North American version of "Being Human"
- Sally
girlfriend of Derek Venturi on Canadian show "Life with Derek"
- Sally Freedman
character in "Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself" by Judy Blume
- Sally Donovan
character on the BBC television show "Sherlock"
- Sally Sparrow
character in "Blink" of the BBC show "Doctor Who"
- Sally Bowles
protagonist of the musical "Cabaret"
- Sally Carrera
Lightning McQueen's girlfriend in the "Cars" movies
- Sally Webster
character on British soap "Coronation Street"
- Sally Ryan
from the movie "Patriot Games," played by Thora Birch
- Sally Owens
from "Practical Magic" played by Sandra Bullock
- Sally Rose
from the movie "Grudge Match" played by Kim Basinger
- Sally Jackson
Percy Jackson's mother in the "Percy Jackson" series
- Sally Hope
character in Enid Blyton's "Malory Towers" series
- Sally Solomon
character on the 90s TV show "3rd Rock from the Sun"
- Sally Hardy
character in "Sims" series
- Sally Boyle
character in "We Happy Few"
- Sally
Anne Perks, character in J.K. Rowling's "The Original Forty"
- Sally Rayburn
character on Netflix's "Bloodline," played by Sissy Spacek
- Sally
character in film "Oblivion"
- "Mustang Sally
" song by Wilson Pickett
- "Sally Cinnamon
" the Stone Roses song
- Sally Acachalla
A character from the YouTube channel VenturianTale
- Sally Stageplay
fictional character in the 2017 video game "Cuphead"
- Sally, When the Wine Runs Out
Song