Polly

English variation of Molly

"drop of the sea; bitter; beloved; love"

Polly Origin and Meaning

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

An alternative to the no-longer-fresh Molly, the initial 'P' gives Polly a peppier sound, combining the cozy virtues of an old-timey name with the bounce of a barmaid.

Associated with Tom Sawyer's aunt, 'Polly, put the kettle on,' parrots, Polly Peachum, Nirvana and Kinks songs, and the movie Along Came Polly, as well as characters in Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes, C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and now on the Netflix show Orange is the New Black, Polly never achieved the comeback that her cousin did, perhaps because she sounds too Pollyanna-ish.

Although she has been off the Social Security list for decades, Polly is Number 423 on Nameberry. We'd love to see some new baby Pollys!

Polly Rank in US Top 1000

# 798 in the US

Polly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 374 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Polly

• 374 Nameberry 2025
• 176 England 2023

20 Names Similar to Polly

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

• Minnie
• Betty
• Betsy
• Dottie
• Dolly
• Peggy
• Penny
• Dot
• Sally
• Nellie
• Bess
• Lois
• Bonnie
• Jean
• Lou
• Franny
• Flo
• Kitty
• Bessie
• Wendy

Famous People Named Polly

• Polly Coke Viscountess Coke
• Polly Jean "P.J." Harvey British singer,songwriter
• Pauline "Polly" Adams English actress
• Pearl "Polly" Adler American madam and author
• Polly Bemis Chinese,American pioneer
• Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin) American singer and actress
• Polly Berry American slave who sued for her freedom
• Polly Bradfield American violinist
• Polly Borland Australian photographer
• Polly Brown English singer
• Polly Carey Draper American actress
• Polly Dunbar English author and illustrator
• Polly Durant American cellist
• Polly Dean Holliday American actress
• Polly Emery British actress
• Pauline Theresa "Polly" Moran American actress and comedian
• Mary Marr "Polly" Platt American film producer
• Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger French immunologist
• Polly Shannon Canadian actress
• Polly Hannah Klaas American child murder victim
• Polly Paulusma English singer,songwriter
• Polly Lucinda Maberly English actress
• Polly Scattergood English singer,songwriter
• Polly Stenham English playwright
• Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee English journalist
• Polly Perkins (born Gillian Nessie Arnold) English actress and singer
• Polly Horvath American,Canadian children's author
• Polly James English actress
• Polly Samson English novelist
• Polly Ward British singer and actress
• Polly Alexandra Walker English actress
• Polly Young English soprano and composer
• Polly Ann Young American actress; sister of actress Loretta Young
• Polly Maness (b. 2018) daughter of actress Erika Christensen and husband Cole Maness

The name Polly in Pop Culture

• Aunt Polly Tom Sawyer's guardian in the book/film by Mark Twain
• Pauline "Polly" Fossil character in Noel Streatfeild's "Ballet Shoes"
• Polly Sherman character in "Fawlty Towers"
• Polly Plummer character in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
• Polly Wright companion of the Doctor from BBCs Doctor Who
• Polly Harper character on TV's "Orange Is the New Black"
• Polly Cooper older sister of Betty in Archie Comics and TV's Riverdale
• Polly Perkins from movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"
• Sweet Polly Purebred character on animated series "Underdog"
• Polly librarian in "The Cat Who" series by Lilian Jackson Braun
• Polly Becker character on British soap "EastEnders"
• Polyhymnia "Polly" O'Keefe character in a series of books by Madeleine L'Engle
• Polly Baker character in the musical "Crazy for You"
• Polly Kemp character in children's novel "The Wish Giver"
• Elizabeth "Polly" Gray character on TV's "Peaky Blinders"
• Polly Brown character in Kit Pearson's "The Whole Truth"
• Polly Parsons character in film "I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House"
• Polly Pocket line of miniature dolls
• Polly stereotypical parrot name ("Polly want a cracker")
• "Polly " song by Nirvana
• "Sweet Polly Oliver " English folk song about a cross,dressing girl
• "Little Polly Flinders " English nursery rhyme
• Polly Peachum character in The Threepenny/Beggars Opera by John Gay and Bertholt Brecht
• Paulina Mary "Polly" Home/de Bassompierre character in Villette by Charlotte Bronte