first name
KELLY
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 499,222 people named Kelly, 85.6% reported their origin as White, 5.1% as Hispanic or Latino and 3.3% as Black. 87.6% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
What should your name go on next?
Thanks! We'll make the most-wanted one next.
Kelly peaked in 1968, when 20,197 babies got the name.
At least 556,365 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.
Kelly by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #33. The largest share of babies named Kelly, 45.5%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.
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 Kelly is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Kelly has been most common in Wyoming (1.6×), Delaware (1.5×), and Montana (1.5×), and least common in Mississippi (0.5×).
549,968 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 Kelly
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Kelly, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Kelly ranks #80 of 156,621, with 255,516 people. See Kelly as a last name
Compare
🔎 KELLY 🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 605 Americans More common than 72.1% of us Peaked in 1968 with 20,197 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/kelly/