Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Molly?
Births per year, rank history and how many Mollies are alive today.
Molly (female) sits just outside the top 100 girls' names in England and Wales, ranked 120th in 2025 with 405 babies given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 2001, when 2,987 babies were given the name, the 15th most popular that year. Molly fell out of the published rankings after 1934 and returned in 1994, a classic revival pattern. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 95,000 babies have been named Molly in England and Wales since 1934. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Molly is one spelling of a name also recorded as Mali and Mollie; the combined figures below cover every spelling. Molly is also a common short form of Mary, so many people called Molly are registered under the longer name.
Across all spellings of the name, the Molly you are most likely to meet is around 24 years old. Half of all Mollies born in England and Wales are between 18 and 45, and there are at least 110,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 30% chance that at least one of them will be called Molly.
How many babies are named Molly each year?
Includes all spellings: Molly, Mali, Mollie. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Molly spelling rank?
Where does the Mali spelling rank?
Where does the Mollie 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 Molly most popular?
Molly peaked in 2001, when 3,796 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Molly?
At least 110,000 people named Molly in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Molly?
Most living Mollies are between 18 and 45; the most common age is about 24.
Is Molly becoming more or less popular?
Reviving: it has returned to the top 100 after time away.