Molly
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Molly
Molly is one of the original nickname names, ALWAYS ranking among the US Top 500 girl names since statistics began, in 1880. Molly peaked in 1991 only to rise just as high again in 2011, and though softening retains a good measure of popularity and charm.
What is Molly short for? Molly originated as a diminutive of Mary, spawning from medieval variations Malle and Molle. Molly has been used as a stand-alone pet form of Mary since the Middle Ages, and has been consistently popular as an independent name in the U.S. over the past several decades.
Likable and down-to-earth, mild yet saucy, Molly has a distinctly Irish feel as well, with such Gaelic associations as 'Sweet Molly Malone' and the martyred reformers known as the Molly Maguires. In the Jewish culture, Molly Goldberg was an early television personality.
Other references include the Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher and the Molly Bloom character in James Joyce's Ulysses, as well as characters in novels by Fielding, Hardy, George Eliot, Dickens and Thackeray. More recently, "Good Golly, Miss Molly" was a Little Richard hit and Molly Ringwald a celebrity bearer.
Amanda Peet is the mother of a Molly, as are Monica Potter and Veronica Webb.
Molly is also given to boys.
Pronounced MAH-lee.
As of October 2026, Molly ranked #196 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #74 in 1991, Nameberry popularity #97.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #122 | 2,605 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #144 | 2,254 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #157 | 1,985 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #166 | 1,829 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #157 | 1,799 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #161 | 1,757 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #174 | 1,644 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #186 | 1,582 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #199 | 1,481 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #208 | 1,437 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #208 | 1,465 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #196 | 1,601 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Molly.
Molly on lists
Famous Mollys
- Molly Kathleen RingwaldGirl
American actress
- Molly Caitlyn QuinnGirl
American actress
- Molly Helen ShannonGirl
American actress and comedienne
- Molly SimsGirl
American actress and model
- Margaret "Molly" Brown ("The Unsinkable")Girl
American Titanic survivor
- Molly PitcherGirl
heroine in the American Revolution
- Molly Joan HaganGirl
American actress
- Molly NeumanGirl
musician of American band Bratmobile
- Molly WilliamsGirl
America's first female firefighter
- Molly HollyGirl
ring name of Nora Kristina Greenwald, American pro wrestler
- Molly ParkerGirl
Canadian actress
- Mary Tyler "Molly" IvinsGirl
American newspaper columnist
- Molly Alice SmittenGirl
Downes, English singer,songwriter
- Molly Kathleen BurnettGirl
American actress
- Molly HuntGirl
American singer,songwriter known as Svrcina
- Molly ArielGirl
daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd; twin of Cyrus Zachariah
- Molly GallagherGirl
daughter of British musician Liam Gallagher
- Molly June Benioff (b. 2010)Girl
Daughter of actors Amanda Peet and David Benioff
- Molly Sullivan Manno (b. 2016)Girl
daughter of American television personality, correspondent, host, spokesperson and blogger Ali Fedotowsky and American television and radio host Kevin Manno
- Molly BurkeGirl
blind YouTube vlogger
Molly in pop culture
- Molly MaloneGirl
Irish folk heroine
- MollysodaGirl
internet personality and artist
- Molly Jean McIntireGirl
character in the American Girl series
- Molly WeasleyGirl
character in the Harry Potter series
- Molly HooperGirl
character on TV's "Sherlock"
- Molly DobbsGirl
character on British soap "Coronation Street"
- Molly FlynnGirl
Biggs, main character on TV's "Mike & Molly"
- Molly MoonGirl
book series by Georgia Byng
- Molly MorganGirl
a main character on TV's "The Torkelsons"
- Molly PhillipsGirl
main character on TV's "So Weird"
- Molly O'BrienGirl
character on TV's "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
- Molly WalkerGirl
character on TV's "Heroes"
- MollyGirl
character in musical "Annie"
- Molly FinchGirl
character in the game "What Remains of Edith Finch"
- Molly GunnGirl
main character in the movie "Uptown Girls"
- Molly JonesGirl
character in the Beatles song "Ob,La,Di, Ob,La,Da"
- Molly LansingGirl
Davis, character on soap "General Hospital"
- Molly GoldbergGirl
main character on TV, radio, and movie "The Goldbergs"
- Molly McKayGirl
main character in 1999 movie "Molly"
- Molly ParkerGirl
character on TV's "The Facts of Life"
- Molly the DollyGirl
character on TV's "The Big Comfy Couch"
- Molly BakerGirl
character in anime 'Sailor Moon'
- Molly ZaneGirl
character in the series 'Fallen' by Lauren Kate
- Marion "Molly" BloomGirl
character in James Joyce's "Ulysses"
- Molly Fitzgerald aka ShamrockGirl
character in Marvel Comics
- Eva "Molly" WeiGirl
character in anime "Åban Star,Racers"
- MillyGirl
Molly,Mandy, character in children's books by Joyce Lankester Brisley
- Molly MillionsGirl
character in novels by William Gibson
- Molly FrenchGirl
character in "The Sims 3" computer game
- Molly DavisGirl
sister in Pixar's Toy Story series
- Molly GarfunkleGirl
character on TV's "How To Rock"
- Molly SingerGirl
daughter in the movie Corrina, Corrina
- Molly Victoria SherwoodGirl
character on TV's Army Wives
- MollyGirl
Scarlett Johansson's character in the movie "Chef"
- Molly Dawes a.k.a. Iona PayneGirl
character on TV's Forever
- Molly Hayes/HernandezGirl
character in Marvel's Runaway comics
- Molly HatchetGirl
American Southern rock band
- Flogging MollyGirl
American punk rock band
- "Good GollyGirl
Miss Molly," song by Little Richard
- "Anna Molly"Girl
a song by Incubus
- The Molly MaguiresGirl
Irish secret society
- MollyGirl
slang for pure MDMA, main ingredient in the drug Ecstasy
- "Molly's Lips"Girl
song by Nirvana and The Vaselines
- "Molly's Chambers"Girl
song by Kings of Leon
- Molly ChalmersGirl
character in Lois Lowry's "A Summer to Die"
- Molly GrueGirl
character in "The Last Unicorn"
- MollyGirl
giant trance worm, owned by Cleveland Booker in the 32nd Century, Molly the trance worm was
- first scene in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "That Hope is YouGirl
Part 1"
- Molly CunninghamGirl
character in the Disney animated series "TaleSpin"
- Molly MorrisGirl
main character in film "So Undercover"