Kelly

Irish

"war"

Kelly Origin and Meaning

The name Kelly is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "war".

A predominantly male name in the US until the late 1950s, the name continued to rise for both sexes for both sexes for a further decade, before starting to decline for boys. Despite dropping out of the boys' Top 1000 in 2002, Kelly retains a rugged Irish charm.

The name derives from Gaelic ceallach/em> "war" or ceall "church". It is also sometimes said to mean "bright-headed".
Famous fictional namesakes include 1960s (male) TV spy Kelly Robinson, as well as one of the (female) Charlie's Angels. Real-life namesakes include actor and dancer Gene Kelly, as well as the legendary Grace Kelly.

Kelly Rank in US Top 1000

# 882 in the US

Kelly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 668 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Kelly

• 668 Nameberry 2025
• 756 Unique 2023

20 Names Similar to Kelly

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Kelly.

• Clinton
• Vinny
• Sheldon
• Randall
• Ashley
• Kenny
• Todd
• Randolph
• Kurt
• Eddy
• Wally
• Jefferson
• Stan
• Kirk
• Richie
• Mick
• Freddy
• Robbie
• Bart
• Mickey

Famous People Named Kelly

• Kelly Slater American surfer
• Kelly Steven Blatz American actor
• Kelly Johnson American baseball player
• Kelly Deshawn McCarty American basketball player
• Kelly Wayne Chase Canadian ice hockey player
• Kelly Wayne Gruber American baseball player
• (Bryan) Kelly Holcomb American football player
• Kelly L. Kirchbaum American football player
• Kelly Tyler Olynyk Canadian basketball player
• Kelly Lee Stinnett American baseball player
• (Peter) Kelly Tripucka American basketball player
• Kelly Crawford Perdew American businessman and TV personality of "The Apprentice"
• Kelly Robert Pavlik American boxer
• Kelly Hrudey Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson American systems engineer and aeronaut
• Kelly Jones Welsh singer of band Stereophonics
• Kelly Reno American actor
• Kelly Monteith American comedian
• Kelly Makin Canadian film director
• Kelly Jones American tennis player
• Gene Kelly American dancer/actor
• Ned Kelly Australian outlaw
• Nat Kelly Cole adopted son of Nat King Cole
• River Kelly Smith (b. 2016) son of country singer Granger Smith
• Kelly Paul Oubre Jr American basketball player
• Kelly Barnhill american children's author

The name Kelly in Pop Culture

• Kelly Severide Taylor Kinney's character on the TV series "Chicago Fire"
• Kelly Schade Burkhardt, son of Adalind Schade & Nick Burkhardt 'Grimm'
• Dr. Kelly Brackett character on TV's "Emergency!"
• Kelly Quinn character on show "just add magic"