The story in the numbers

204,548 girls have been named Holly in the United States since 1893, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1983, with 6,388 births — 0.38% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 448 → 419).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1979, and the 1970s alone account for 25%. It has spent 88 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 24 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,541 boys have also been given it, 0.75% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Holly

133

199

415

3,962

18,634

32,144

50,464

49,656

27,072

11,597

6,784

3,423

In 1983, its biggest year

Holly was the 48th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1983 were Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda, Ashley and Sarah. See all of 1983.

Names that rose and fell with Holly

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.