Holly
A feminine name derived from the English name for the holly tree.
Name Census estimates that about 182,620 living Americans carry the first name Holly. It sits at #419 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Holly today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Holly births was 1983 (6,415 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Holly. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Holly with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Holly is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,541 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
183K
~ 1 in 1,877 Americans
Peak year
1983
6,415 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2004 SSA rank
#419
Tracked since 1880
Census
Holly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 182,744 people with the first name Holly, which placed it at #305 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#305
National first-name rank
People counted
183K
182,744 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
60.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Holly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Holly is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Holly described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Holly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 165,773
- Two or more races3.1% · 5,663
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 4,737
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 2,865
- Black or African American1.4% · 2,642
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,064
Gender
Gender distribution for Holly
Out of the 206,089 babies given the name Holly since 1880, 99.3% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Holly as a male name
- Ranked #8,417 in 2004
- 8 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1918 (32 births)
Holly as a female name
- Ranked #419 in 2024
- 739 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1983 (6,388 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Holly appears almost entirely female. Of the 182,754 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Holly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Holly from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 50,656 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Holly by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Holly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hollys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Holly, while Hawaii, Wyoming, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,971 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Holly
The name Holly has its origins in the English language and is derived from the holly tree, a type of evergreen shrub or tree with prickly leaves, red berries, and dense foliage. The holly plant has been revered since ancient times and has been associated with various pagan and Christian traditions.
In ancient Roman times, the holly plant was considered sacred and was used in wreaths and decorations during the winter solstice celebrations. The plant's evergreen nature and bright red berries were seen as symbols of life and fertility amidst the winter season.
The name Holly first appeared in historical records during the Middle Ages, around the 12th and 13th centuries. It was commonly used as a surname, often given to people who lived near holly trees or worked with the plant in some capacity.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Holly was Holly Watts, a British noblewoman who lived in the late 13th century. She was the daughter of Sir John Watts and was known for her philanthropic work and support of the local church.
In the 16th century, the name Holly gained popularity as a given name for girls, particularly in England and Scotland. This coincided with the rise of the Protestant Reformation and the association of holly with Christmas celebrations and Christian symbolism.
One notable historical figure with the name Holly was Holly Whyte, an English poet and writer who lived in the late 16th century. She was known for her lyrical works and her contributions to the English Renaissance literary scene.
In the 18th century, the name Holly became more widespread across Europe and the Americas. One famous bearer of the name was Holly Golightly, an American socialite and actress who lived in the early 20th century. She was known for her glamorous lifestyle and was immortalized in the novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote.
Another notable figure with the name Holly was Holly Woodlawn, an American actress and transgender pioneer who rose to fame in the 1970s. She was a prominent figure in the underground drag and LGBT culture of New York City and starred in several Andy Warhol films.
In more recent times, the name Holly has continued to be a popular choice for girls, particularly in English-speaking countries. Some famous modern bearers of the name include Holly Hunter, an American actress known for her roles in films like "The Piano" and "Broadcast News," and Holly Holm, an American mixed martial artist and former boxer who gained recognition for her victory over Ronda Rousey in 2015.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Holly
People
Holly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Holly as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Holly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Holly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 182,620 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Holly going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,877 US residents.
Is Holly a common name?
We classify Holly as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 206,089 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Holly most popular?
The single biggest year for Holly was 1983, when 6,415 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Holly is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Holly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 182,744 people with the name Holly, or 60.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #305 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Holly in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Holly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Holly appears almost entirely female. Of the 182,754 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Holly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Holly is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Holly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Holly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (165,773 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Holly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Holly a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Holly in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Holly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Holly in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Holly can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Holly?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.