Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Kelly?
Births per year, rank history and how many Kellies are alive today.
Kelly (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 14 in 2025, ranked 2006th. This spelling of the name peaked in 1984, when around 3,300 babies were given the name, the 15th most popular that year. It has declined since 1984; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 48,000 babies have been named Kelly in England and Wales since 1974. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Kelly is one spelling of a name also recorded as Kellie; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Kelly you are most likely to meet is around 42 years old. Half of all Kellies born in England and Wales are between 36 and 46, and there are at least 51,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 15% chance that at least one of them will be called Kelly.
How many babies are named Kelly each year?
Includes all spellings: Kelly, Kellie. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Kelly spelling rank?
Where does the Kellie spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Kelly most popular?
Kelly peaked in 1984, when around 3,300 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Kelly?
At least 51,000 people named Kelly in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Kelly?
Most living Kellies are between 36 and 46; the most common age is about 42.
Is Kelly becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1984 peak.