Holly

English nature name

"holy day"

Holly Origin and Meaning

The name Holly is a girl's name of English origin.

Holly ranks just in British Top 50, but it's been out of favor here since the 1970s Era of Nickname Names. Still, the name may be on her way back as a rejuvenated nature pick.

Jolly Holly has always been among the favorite names for Christmas babies, evoking the symbolic shrub with dark green leaves and bright red berries. And Holly is the flower for the month of December, so it's also among the perfect names for December babies.

A memorable fictional Holly is the enigmatic heroine of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly (almost named Connie, and with the full name Holiday), played indelibly by Audrey Hepburn. A real life one is actress Holly Hunter. Holly Short is a fairy character in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl novels. And in Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, Holly and Jolly are siblings.

Holly Rank in US Top 1000

# 450 in the US

Holly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 239 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Holly

• 450 US 2023
• 239 Nameberry 2025
• 136 England 2023
• 80 Scotland 2024
• 39 Ireland 2024
• 78 Australia 2018
• 78 New Zealand 2020
• 229 Germany 2016
• 78 Dogs 2022
• 93 Cats 2021

20 Names Similar to Holly

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

• Hope
• Joy
• April
• May
• Faith
• Heather
• Belle
• Eve
• Carolina
• Rosie
• Amy
• Cassie
• Robin
• Rosa
• Annabelle
• Summer
• Molly
• Elsa
• Julie
• Gracie

Famous People Named Holly

• Holly Frazier American reality TV personality ("Dance Moms")
• Holly Marie Willoughby English TV presenter
• Holly Marie Combs American actress
• Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete American actress
• Holly Hunter American actress
• Holly Walsh English comedienne and writer
• Holly Sue Madison American reality TV star, model and ex,girlfriend of Hugh Hefner
• Holly Victoria Hagan English reality TV personality ("Geordie Shore")
• Holly Rowe American sportscaster
• Holly Dunn American country music singer
• Holly Cole Canadian jazz singer
• Holly Black American novelist
• Holly Anna Ramsay (b. 2000) daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay
• Holly Woodlawn American actress and Warhol Superstar

The name Holly in Pop Culture

• Holly Golightly character in book/movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
• Holly Holiday character on TV's "Glee"
• "Holly Nather " novel by Sara Daniell and its main character
• Holly Hills character in the 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series
• Holly J Sinclair character on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
• Holly Stewart character on TV's 'Rookie Blue'
• Holly Genero McClane character in the Die Hard movie series
• Holly Short character from the Artemis Fowl series
• Holly White baby character on TV's "Breaking Bad"
• Holly Herkimer from the TV series "Shameless"
• Holly Hamilton main character from movie "The Perfect Man"
• Princess Holly from TV series "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom"
• Holly Tyler character on TV series "What I Like About You"
• Holly Marten character on TV's 'Eureka'
• Hollis Partridge "Holly" Flax character on TV's "The Office"
• Holly Kennedy character in "P.S. I Love You"
• Holly Alto character in "The Sims 3" computer game
• Hollywood California, USA
• Holly Whyte character in video game "Bravely Default"
• Holly Wheeler character in Stranger Things
• Holly girlfriend of Jackson Meyer in YA novel "Tempest"
• Holly Hobbie American writer and illustrator and the name of a fictional character and doll based on her
• Holly (sometimes spelled "Holy") Joestar Kujo character in the manga/anime "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure"
• Holly O'Hair youngest twin princess daughter of Rapunzel in "Ever After High"
• Holly character in movie "Reality High"