Jolly

This cheerful name would be a fun seasonal choice of middle name for a child born around the holidays — or as a pet name for a dog or cat adopted during the Christmas season.

Jolly has been used as a given name sporadically, typically in relation to the surname. As a last name, Jolly is found among the English, Scottish, and French. It originated as a nickname for a positive person, derived from Middle English Old French jolif, joli, meaning "cheerful" or "pretty".

Jolly is also given to boys.

Pronounced JOL-ee.

As of October 2026, Jolly ranked #5406 for boys in US births in 1978 and #16378 for girls in US births in 2022 SSA, peaked at #1044 for boys in 1891 and #2632 for girls in 1937.