How popular is the baby name Kelly in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Kelly.

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Popularity of the baby name Kelly


Posts that mention the name Kelly

Tennessee family with 19 children

kinderfest

A couple of weeks ago, Gil and Kelly Bates of Lake City, Tennessee — and also of the reality TV show United Bates of America — welcomed their 19th child.

Here are the names and ages of all 19:

  1. Zachary Gilvin, called “Zach,” 23
  2. Michaella Christian, called “Michael,” 22
    • Her name is pronounced “like the male version [of] Michael with [an] “uh” sound on the end.”
  3. Erin Elise, 20
  4. William Lawson, called “Lawson,” 19
  5. Kenneth Nathaniel, called “Nathan,” 18
  6. Alyssa Joy, 17
  7. Tori Layne, 16
  8. Trace Whitfield, 15
  9. Carlin Brianne, 13
  10. Josie Kellyn, 12
  11. Katie Grace, 11
  12. Jackson Ezekiel, 9
  13. Warden Justice, 8
  14. Isaiah Courage, 7
  15. Addallee Hope, 5
    • “The double letters in her name remind us that God gave her a second chance in life when she was born with complications that caused her breathing and her heart to stop.”
  16. Ellie Bridget, 4
  17. Callie-Anna Rose, 2
  18. Judson Wyatt, 1
  19. Jeb Colton, newborn

Have any favorites?

P.S. They also have a dog named Johnny and a cat named Kitty.

Sources: Gil and Kelly Bates Welcome Baby No. 19, America’s largest family, the Bates, on miracle 19th child who survived after failing to breathe on his own at birth, About Our Family – The Bates Family, Update on Michael – The Bates Family

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

Baby name story: Brighton

Brighton
Brighton

For their honeymoon, Dean and Kelly Hernandez of Columbus, Ohio, visited the city of Brighton, England (which is on the southern coast).

Four years later, they welcomed a baby girl. They named her Isabel Brighton in honor of the city.

Here’s what Dean had to say about Brighton:

In all of our travels around the world, there has been no place whose people made such a singularly good impression upon us.

Have you ever been to a place whose residents made “a singularly good impression” upon you? Would the name of that place make a good baby name?

Source: “US baby named Brighton after city.” BBC 13 May 2009.

Image: Adapted from Brighton.UK by Bojan Lazarevic under CC BY 3.0.

Where did the baby name Dreux come from in 1956?

The wedding of Henry and Marie-Thérèse in Dreux, France, in 1957.
Henri & Marie-Thérèse

What drew people to the baby name Dreux in 1956?

  • 1958: 9 baby boys named Dreux
  • 1957: 6 baby boys named Dreux
  • 1956: 9 baby boys named Dreux [debut]
  • 1955: unlisted
  • 1954: unlisted

I’m not 100% sure, but I think I’ve got a decent theory.

Let’s start with Grace Kelly. In April of 1956, she was married to Prince Rainier in a lavish wedding that got worldwide press coverage.

Later the same year, in November, two engagements were announced:

  • Prince Henri of Orleans, to Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg, and
  • Princess Hélène of Orleans, to Count Evrard of Limbourg-Styrum.

Henri and Hélène were the 2nd and 3rd children of the Count of Paris, claimant to the long-gone throne of France. Henri, importantly, was the eldest son.

Newspapers claimed Henri’s upcoming marriage would be “THE Wedding of 1957,” and “[t]he most important marriage to be celebrated in France since Napoleon III wed Princess Eugenie.” They said that “as far as European royalty is concerned it will make that Rainier-Kelly wedding in Monaco last spring look like a musical comedy.”

And all the announcements were sure to mention that both couples would marry in the royal chapel in the town of Dreux, located in north-central France.

Hélène and Evrard wed in January:

Henri and Duchess Marie-Thérèse wed in July:

My only reservation regarding this theory is that place names highlighted in the news don’t typically turn into baby names. That said…Dreux in an American accent sounds a lot like Drew, the nickname for Andrew, so perhaps that’s the key here.

What are your thoughts on Dreux as a baby name? (Do you have any alternate theories about where this one might have come from?)

Sources:

  • “France Preparing for Royal Wedding Early Next Summer.” Bend Bulletin [Bend, Oregon] 22 Nov. 1956: 13.
  • “Royalty All Set for THE Wedding of 1957.” Indiana Evening Gazette [Indiana, Pennsylvania] 23 Nov. 1956: 12.
  • Henri d’Orléans (1908-1999) – Wikipédia
  • SSA

Image: Clipping from Life magazine (29 Jul. 1957)

Boy names beyond the top 1,000 of 2010

stars

We’ve all seen the top 1,000 boy names of 2010 by now, but have you had a chance to look at the names beyond the top 1,000?

Here they are, down to the names that were given to 100 babies each last year. The 1,000th most popular boy name was Crew, given to 193 babies, and after Crew comes…

  • 193: Enoch, Maxton, Taj, Truman [all tied with Crew]
  • 192: Addison, Nikhil, Simeon
  • 191: Cassius, Elvis, Reuben
  • 190: Brenton, Maximillian
  • 189: Brecken, Eliezer, Eliseo, Elmer, Jovany, Kamren, Tyshawn
  • 188: Anton, Cristiano, Jovan, Jovanny, Miller, Shamar
  • 187: Augustine, Corban, Glenn, Milton
  • 186: Adolfo, Carlo, Dale, German, Zavion
  • 185: Boden, Bodie, Campbell, Garrison
  • 184: Emory, Harvey, Hendrix, Nixon, Siddharth, Yehuda
  • 183: Anish, Jamarcus, Juelz, Kyan, Ulysses
  • 182: Estevan, Isaak, Maddux
  • 181: Arlo, Braedyn, Ethen
  • 180: Dhruv, Nathanial, Thiago, Zeke
  • 179: Denzel, Dion, Gordon, Karsen, Mack, Marquise, Vladimir
  • 178: Braedon, Crosby, Ephraim, Graysen, Otto, Yisroel
  • 177: Andreas, Coby, Dariel, Dimitri, Geovanni, Immanuel, Jamel, Josh, Karl, Maksim
  • 176: Jarrett, Kohen, Langston, Rylen, Tremaine, Treyvon
  • 175: Kasey, Kenyon, Marques, Mustafa
  • 174: Cayson, Kalel, Nick, Reynaldo, Trevin
  • 173: Stone, Turner
  • 172: Briar, Lamont, Leif, Princeton
  • 171: Marcello
  • 170: Amos, Coen, Donavan
  • 169: Jesiah, Kayleb, Leeland, Shmuel
  • 168: Bernard, Chaz, Jacobi, Mikel, Rishi
  • 167: none
  • 166: Jayvon, Jericho, Lucien, Savion, Tyce
  • 165: Benton, Bowen, Kamarion, Kooper, Said, Yaakov
  • 164: Brennon, Eddy, Maison, Treyton
  • 163: Braylin, Fredrick, Keven, Nestor
  • 162: Abner, Reilly
  • 161: Bishop, Canaan, Gaven, Jaedyn, Jermiah, Mariano, Ryley, Thatcher
  • 160: Forrest, Haven, Jaylan, Keanu, Rocky
  • 159: Gino, Magnus, Nathen, Rigoberto
  • 158: Amarion, Jaren, Kelton, Lucca, Stephan, Vince
  • 157: Austyn, Harlan, Kylen
  • 156: Baylor, Chevy, Desean, Shiloh, Titan
  • 155: Kennedy
  • 154: Jaleel, Tayden
  • 153: Guy, Jai, Javen, Sammy, Vihaan
  • 152: Benny, Briggs, Haden, Jullian, Karim
  • 151: Brayson, Brysen, Callan, Colson
  • 150: Armaan, Domenic, Jarvis, Joan, Kyran, Tobin, Zyon
  • 149: Arian, Austen, Darrius, Landin
  • 148: Devonte, Kamdyn, Markell, Massimo, Zaden
  • 147: Jakub, Lachlan, Mordechai
  • 146: Cristobal, Ewan, Santana, Taven
  • 145: Ayan, Dashiell, Gonzalo, Jael, Jakari, Jariel, Javian, Syed
  • 144: Kye, Leyton, Marek, Viktor
  • 143: Dereck, Dewayne, Jamil, Jeremias, Kannon, Lenny, Milan, Shimon, Stetson
  • 142: Apollo, Aubrey, Clifford, Khalid, Mikah, Zyaire
  • 141: Anson, Darion, Norman, Phineas, Royal, Terence
  • 140: Ajay, Baron, Cornelius, Duke, Dwight, Neel
  • 139: Alexandre, Beck, Bernardo, Bilal, Britton, Gerard, Irving, Kaidyn, Tristyn, Zahir
  • 138: Arman, Aven, Drayden, Presley, Shayne
  • 137: Carmine, Dereon, Elvin, Guadalupe, Marquez, Miguelangel, Shlomo
  • 136: Cordell, Mikael, Nate, Sami, Vernon
  • 135: Alek, Corbyn, Coy, Ely, Jan, Kiptyn, Koby, Sabastian, Tevin, Travon
  • 134: Alexandro, Korbyn, Korey, Oakley
  • 133: Clyde, Izaac, Tavin, Tegan
  • 132: Karsten, Kyree, Raylan, Ridge, Zayd
  • 131: Aleksander, Benicio, Gus, Jet, Judson, Nazir, Sebastien
  • 130: Atreyu, Braulio, Colter, Emmet, Rico, Tiger
  • 129: Garret, Ira, Jaedon, Juancarlos, Keelan, Kent, Myron, Rashawn
  • 128: Aayden, Clint, Ishan, Lucius, Musa, Oskar, Perry, Torin
  • 127: Amar, Cian, Dallin, Denver, Donnie, Duane, Giovany, Landan
  • 126: Avi, Bryden, Cormac, Dandre, Dontae, Finnian, Jameer, Yariel, Zakary
  • 125: Courtney, Efren, Josef, Kalvin, Lloyd, Lonnie, Markel, Merrick, Zev
  • 124: Denis, Eamon, Foster, Gannon, Kalen, Keller, Louie, Tavion, Tylan, Wilmer, Xavion
  • 123: Deshaun, Geovanny, Kain, Luc, Marion
  • 122: Hagen, Tiago, Tzvi, Zakaria
  • 121: Alton, Bryton, Carlton, Carmello, Jaheim, Rayyan, Yaseen
  • 120: Coltin, Dash, Gian, Jahir, Jeancarlos, Nevin, Raheem, Sutton, Trae
  • 119: Aksel, Barry, Khamari, Kolt, Omarion, Otis, Yitzchok
  • 118: Brighton, Grayden, Jeshua, Maddix, Rickey, Shea, Talen, Trenten
  • 117: Brad, Caeden, Cy, Kallen, Kenji, Linus, Mikhail, Om, Oswaldo
  • 116: Adin, Azariah, Carsten, Cashton, Damarcus, Demari, Ever, Kaison, Lester, Maddex
  • 115: Ayush, Brandt, Chayce, Dan, Demarco, Deonte, Francesco, Izaak, Kipton, Mac, Pierson, Stephon
  • 114: Abhinav, Avraham, Carsyn, Earl, Faris, Gerson, Jayven, Johnpaul, Yoel
  • 113: Ahmir, Alexavier, Amani, Coleton, Dev, Evin, Obed, Osmar, Yahya
  • 112: Dyllan, Eliel, Jayshawn, Jeff, Jonatan, Jordin, Nikko
  • 111: Daryl, Harris, Jeremih, Jordy, Kurt, Neal, Tariq, Veer, Yash
  • 110: Achilles, Ares, Demario, Demetri, Dezmond, Gianluca, Ishmael, Jaziel, Kahlil, Karon, Youssef
  • 109: Broden, Deion, Don, Ethyn, Jaidon, Jimmie, Kegan, Kenton, Marko, Yovani
  • 108: Adler, Elan, Eliyahu, Fidel, Finnley, Jahmir, Kentrell, Rio, Tahj, Tye, Westley
  • 107: Antwon, Benito, Clifton, Diesel, Greysen, Khristian, Kurtis, Latrell, Ramses, Rick, Robin
  • 106: Braelyn, Canyon, Eian, Grey, Javien, Jaysen, Kaysen, Lyndon, Meir
  • 105: Axton, Bronx, Canon, Darin, Daveon, Ervin, Fred, Jancarlos, Jaxsen, Johnnie, Osiel, Rian, Tyron, Yasir, Zephaniah
  • 104: Athan, Chayse, Donnell, Emil, Hans, Jacen, Javeon, Kollin, Syncere, Trevion
  • 103: Brigham, Emir, Freddie, Heriberto, Wiley
  • 102: Constantine, Graeme, Keandre, Kiran, Kirk, Kyren, Murphy, Nikita
  • 101: Abdul, Geoffrey, Harlem, Hernan, Idris, Isac
  • 100: Anakin, Andrei, Dylon, Ford, Jacorey, Kaydin, Kelly, Lazaro, Patricio, Raymundo, Rowdy, Sahil, Shepherd, Zaylen

Here’s the equivalent girls’ list for 2010.

Update, Aug. 2023: “Boy names beyond the top 1,000 of 2022” is a more recent version of this list.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from Scattered stars in Sagittarius by ESA/Hubble under CC BY 4.0.