Holly
Holly is a girl name of English origin, meaning The holly tree; holiness.
What Holly means
The holly tree; holiness.
Holly sits at 5 letters, and ends on a consonant, which gives it a firmer stop.
Where Holly comes from
English names come from a long layering of Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, and biblical sources. Many began as surnames, place names, or occupations before they were ever used as first names.
Holly is recorded as English in origin. Browse other English names.
How popular is Holly?
Holly sits outside the top 100 girl names we currently track. For many parents that is the appeal: a name with genuine history behind it that has not been picked up by everyone at once.
The character of Holly
We group Holly under the natural world and faith — an unusual pairing, and often the reason a name feels the way it does. Each theme opens a full list of names sharing it.
Names like Holly
These share Holly's themes, origin, or both — closest first.
- Presley — Priest's meadow.
- Hazel — The hazelnut tree.
- Daisy — The day's-eye flower.
- Hadley — Field of heather.
- Heather — The flowering heath shrub.
- Hope — Optimism; trust in the future.
- Ivy — Ivy plant — faithfulness, growth.
- Lily — The lily flower — purity and beauty.
- Willow — Willow tree — grace and flexibility.
- Wren — The small, spirited songbird.
- Apple — The sweet apple fruit.
- Birdie — Little bird.
More English names
- Holden — From the deep valley.
- Holt — Of the woodland.
- Heather — The flowering heath shrub.
- Hope — Optimism; trust in the future.
- Heath — The open moorland.
- Hudson — Son of Hugh; of the river.
- Hazel — The hazelnut tree.
- Ivory — Pure, creamy white.
- Hayden — From the hedged valley.
- Ivy — Ivy plant — faithfulness, growth.