Holly (name)


Holly is an English-language surname and given name. It is also often used as a nickname for people named Heather.
Holly is known as an English or Irish surname it is either locational, ultimately derived from the Old English hol :wikt:leah|lēah " 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 :wikt:cuileann|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 " holly trees"; it was also used as a masculine given name.
Holly 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, which was made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1961. The name of this character is stated to be short for Holiday.
The name peaked in popularity in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, and has declined since, ranking at #380 in the United States as of 2009.
It was popularly given in England and Wales during the 2000s, staying in the top 30 girls' names throughout 1996-2012, with a peak at rank #12 in 2002.
A tendency to give the name to girls born on or near Christmas has also been observed. More recent eccentric spellings of the feminine name include Holli, Holleigh, Hollee, Hollye.

Surname

Feminine