Holly is an English-language surname and given name.
Holly is known as an English or Irish surname (variant Holley) it is either locational, ultimately derived from the Old English hol lēah "[dwelling by] the clearing by the hollow", or descriptive, from hol-ēage "hollow-eyed". In Ireland, it was also used as a translation of the name Mac Cuilinn, which is derived from cuileann, the Gaelic name of the holly tree, and by extension sometimes of the similar-sounding McQuillan surname of Ulster. The masculine names Holly, Hollie were derived from the surname, but have mostly fallen out of use since the mid 20th century due to the rise in popularity of the feminine name. Hollis is an English surname derived from a Middle English holis "[dwelling by] holly trees"; it was also used as a masculine given name.
Holly (variants Hollie, Holley) was first used as a feminine given name in the 20th century, as a "botanical" name given to girls, in reference to, or at least secondarily associated with, the holly tree. While the feminine name is on record in the United States since the 1930s, its surge in popularity was due to Holly Golightly, the socialite protagonist in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958), which was made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1961. The name of this character is stated to be short for Holiday (rather than a reference to the plant).
The name peaked in popularity in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, and has declined since, ranking at No. 449th place in the United States as of 2023. It was popularly given in England and Wales during the 2000s, staying in the top 30 girls' names throughout 1996 to 2012, with a peak at rank No. 12 in 2002 (and dropping to rank No. 135 as of 2023). A tendency to give the name to girls born on or near Christmas has also been observed. It has been the most popular name given to girls in Ireland who were born on Christmas Day and has also been more popular for girls there born in December than at other times of the year. More recent eccentric spellings of the feminine name include Holli (1970s), Holleigh, Hollee, and Hollye.
Contents
Surname
Alanson Holly (1810–1882), American politician
Anton Holly (1875–1932), American politician
Birdsill Holly (1820–1894), American inventor
Buddy Holly (1936–1959), American rock and roll musician
Charles Frederick Holly (1819–1901), Justice of the Colorado Territorial Supreme Court
Christy Holly (b. 1984/85), Northern Ireland footballer and football coach
Daven Holly (b. 1982), American football player
Ed Holly (1879–1973), American baseball player
Lauren Holly (b. 1963), American actress
Pseudonym
The Holly Cousins, a kayfabe family in American professional wrestling:
Hardcore Holly (born 1963)
Crash Holly (1971–2003)
Molly Holly (born 1977)
Given name
Feminine
Holly Aird (b. 1969), British actress
Holly Aitchison (born 1997), English rugby union player
Holly Alex, Scottish writer
Holly Andres (born 1977), American photographer
Holly Aprile (born 1969), American softball pitcher
Holly Archer (born 1993), British athlete
Holly Arntzen, Canadian singer, dulcimerist, and pianist
Holly Barnard, American geographer
Holly Barratt (born 1988), Australian swimmer
Holly Bass, American poet, writer, journalist, educator and cultural activist
Holly Black (born 1971), American writer and editor, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles
Holly Block (1958–2017), American museum and art gallery director
Holly Bobo (1990–c. April 13, 2011), American murder victim
Holly Bodimeade (born 1995), English actress
Holly Brown-Borg, American biologist and biogerontologist
Holly Cairns (b. 1989), Irish politician
Holly Cattle (b. 1997), English actress
Holly Cole (b. 1963), Canadian jazz singer
Masculine
Holly Alphin (1926–1998), American football player
Holly Betaudier, known as Holly B (1925–2016), radio and television personality from Trinidad and Tobago
Holly Broadbent Jr. (1918–2009), American orthodontist
Holly Broadbent Sr. (1894–1977), American orthodontist
Holly Campbell (1907–1979), American track and field athlete
Holley Cantine (1916–1977), American writer and activist
Holly Farrar, American football player and coach
Holly Hollingshead (1853–1926), Major League Baseball center fielder
Holly Johnson (William Holly Johnson, b. 1960), English singer
Holley Mims (1929–1970), American boxer
Holly One (1965–2006), Italian porn star
Holly Tshimanga (born 1997), Belgian footballer
Holly Whyte (1917–1999), American urbanist and sociologist
Holly Martins, played by Joseph Cotten in Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949)
Holly (Red Dwarf), a central character on the British TV series Red Dwarf (1988)