By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal
footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.
Where Kelly is most popular
Girls named Kelly per 1,000 girls born in
each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.205 per 1,000.
Strongest in Maryland, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
Vs national average well below below near national above well above no data
All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Kelly born
2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes
comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.
State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any
state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.
The story of Kelly
Kelly is uncommon for girls in the United States, ranked #852 in 2025 with 319 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.
Since 1880, 556,365 American babies have been named Kelly, about 85% girls and 15% boys, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 1968, when 20,197 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1960s.
The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Kelly stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.
