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.

# 882 in the US

Kelly Rank in US Top 1000

# 855 on Nameberry

Kelly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Kelly Popularity

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 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!"