How common is the name Holly?

182,754 people in the United States have the first name Holly, about 1 in 1,653. It ranks #305 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

HOLLY

#305

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
182,754
About
1 in 1,653
This common or more
49.3%
Who bears it

Of the 182,754 people named Holly, 90.7% reported their origin as White, 3.1% as two or more races and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Holly peaked in 1983, when 6,415 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1983
Births that year
6,415
In 2025*
751 ▼88%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 206,845 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Holly by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #119. The largest share of babies named Holly, 35.5%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1880s#2,30819
1890s#2,17950
1900s#2,46561
1910s#2,144286
1920s#2,194413
1930s#1,697566
1940s#6674,123
1950s#33918,811
1960s#24132,297
1970s#11950,656
1980s#12649,875
1990s#25527,115
2000s#56011,605
2010s#9156,785
2020s#9034,183
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.3%
Silent Generation 1928–451.1%
Baby boom 1946–6417.5%
Generation X 1965–8035.5%
Millennials 1981–9631.9%
Generation Z 1997–129.5%
2013 and later4.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Holly is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Holly has been most common in Alaska (2.1×), New Hampshire (1.9×), and Utah (1.8×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.56×).

203,224 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Holly

#303 Louis · 183,365#304 Johnny · 183,104#306 Lillian · 182,256#307 Joanne · 181,755

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Holly, most common first.

#2,960 Holli · 7,607#4,674 Holley · 3,908#22,206 Hollye · 450#24,891 Holy · 384#38,781 Holle · 197

Also a last name

As a last name, Holly ranks #4,119 of 156,621, with 8,365 people. See Holly as a last name

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