Molly

Diminutive of Mary, Hebrew

"bitter"

Molly Origin and Meaning

The name Molly is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter".

Molly is one of the original nickname names, ALWAYS ranking among the US Top 500 girl names since statistics began, in 1880. Molly peaked in 1991 only to rise just as high again in 2011, and though softening retains a good measure of popularity and charm.

What is Molly short for? Molly originated as a diminutive of Mary, spawning from medieval variations Malle and Molle. Molly has been used as a stand-alone pet form of Mary since the Middle Ages, and has been consistently popular as an independent name in the U.S. over the past several decades.

Likable and down-to-earth, mild yet saucy, Molly has a distinctly Irish feel as well, with such Gaelic associations as 'Sweet Molly Malone' and the martyred reformers known as the Molly Maguires. In the Jewish culture, Molly Goldberg was an early television personality.

Other references include the Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher and the Molly Bloom character in James Joyce's Ulysses, as well as characters in novels by Fielding, Hardy, George Eliot, Dickens and Thackeray. More recently, "Good Golly, Miss Molly" was a Little Richard hit and Molly Ringwald a celebrity bearer.

Amanda Peet is the mother of a Molly, as are Monica Potter and Veronica Webb.

Molly Rank in US Top 1000

# 208 in the US

Molly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 135 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Molly

• 208 US 2023
• 135 Nameberry 2025
• 178 Canada 2021
• 88 England 2023
• 68 Scotland 2024
• 22 Ireland 2024
• 93 Australia 2020
• 69 New Zealand 2023
• 36 Sweden 2024
• 40 Denmark 2023
• 13 Dogs 2023
• 21 Cats 2023

20 Names Similar to Molly

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

• Annie
• Rosie
• Kate
• Maggie
• Georgia
• Holly
• Heidi
• May
• Eve
• Josie
• Anne
• Joy
• Gracie
• Annabelle
• Penny
• Jane
• Caroline
• Lillian
• Nina
• Hannah

Famous People Named Molly

• Molly Kathleen Ringwald American actress
• Molly Caitlyn Quinn American actress
• Molly Helen Shannon American actress and comedienne
• Molly Sims American actress and model
• Margaret "Molly" Brown ("The Unsinkable") American Titanic survivor
• Molly Pitcher heroine in the American Revolution
• Molly Joan Hagan American actress
• Molly Neuman musician of American band Bratmobile
• Molly Williams America's first female firefighter
• Molly Holly ring name of Nora Kristina Greenwald, American pro wrestler
• Molly Parker Canadian actress
• Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins American newspaper columnist
• Molly Alice Smitten Downes, English singer,songwriter
• Molly Kathleen Burnett American actress
• Molly Hunt American singer,songwriter known as Svrcina
• Molly Ariel daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd; twin of Cyrus Zachariah
• Molly Gallagher daughter of British musician Liam Gallagher
• Molly June Benioff (b. 2010) Daughter of actors Amanda Peet and David Benioff
• Molly Sullivan Manno (b. 2016) daughter of American television personality, correspondent, host, spokesperson and blogger Ali Fedotowsky and American television and radio host Kevin Manno
• Molly Burke blind YouTube vlogger

The name Molly in Pop Culture

• Molly Malone Irish folk heroine
• Mollysoda internet personality and artist
• Molly Jean McIntire character in the American Girl series
• Molly Weasley character in the Harry Potter series
• Molly Hooper character on TV's "Sherlock"
• Molly Dobbs character on British soap "Coronation Street"
• Molly Flynn Biggs, main character on TV's "Mike & Molly"
• Molly Moon book series by Georgia Byng
• Molly Morgan a main character on TV's "The Torkelsons"
• Molly Phillips main character on TV's "So Weird"
• Molly O'Brien character on TV's "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
• Molly Walker character on TV's "Heroes"
• Molly character in musical "Annie"
• Molly Finch character in the game "What Remains of Edith Finch"
• Molly Gunn main character in the movie "Uptown Girls"
• Molly Jones character in the Beatles song "Ob,La,Di, Ob,La,Da"
• Molly Lansing Davis, character on soap "General Hospital"
• Molly Goldberg main character on TV, radio, and movie "The Goldbergs"
• Molly McKay main character in 1999 movie "Molly"
• Molly Parker character on TV's "The Facts of Life"
• Molly the Dolly character on TV's "The Big Comfy Couch"
• Molly Baker character in anime 'Sailor Moon'
• Molly Zane character in the series 'Fallen' by Lauren Kate
• Marion "Molly" Bloom character in James Joyce's "Ulysses"
• Molly Fitzgerald aka Shamrock character in Marvel Comics
• Eva "Molly" Wei character in anime "Ōban Star,Racers"
• Milly Molly,Mandy, character in children's books by Joyce Lankester Brisley
• Molly Millions character in novels by William Gibson
• Molly French character in "The Sims 3" computer game
• Molly Davis sister in Pixar's Toy Story series
• Molly Garfunkle character on TV's "How To Rock"
• Molly Singer daughter in the movie Corrina, Corrina
• Molly Victoria Sherwood character on TV's Army Wives
• Molly Scarlett Johansson's character in the movie "Chef"
• Molly Dawes a.k.a. Iona Payne character on TV's Forever
• Molly Hayes/Hernandez character in Marvel's Runaway comics
• Molly Hatchet American Southern rock band
• Flogging Molly American punk rock band
• "Good Golly Miss Molly," song by Little Richard
• "Anna Molly" a song by Incubus
• The Molly Maguires Irish secret society
• Molly slang for pure MDMA, main ingredient in the drug Ecstasy
• "Molly's Lips" song by Nirvana and The Vaselines
• "Molly's Chambers" song by Kings of Leon
• Molly Chalmers character in Lois Lowry's "A Summer to Die"
• Molly Grue character in "The Last Unicorn"
• Molly giant trance worm, owned by Cleveland Booker in the 32nd Century, Molly the trance worm was
• first scene in the Star Trek: Discovery episode "That Hope is You Part 1"
• Molly Cunningham character in the Disney animated series "TaleSpin"