Find out how popular the first name Holley has been for the last 50 years (from 1974 to 2023) and learn more about the meaning and history.

Popularity of Holley by gender

Based on the last 50 years of data, Holley is more commonly used as a female name, with approximately 100% of people named Holley being female.

For the most recent data in 2023, there were 44 female babies and 0 male babies born with the name Holley.

The history of the first name Holley

The name Holley is an English given name with roots that can be traced back to the Old English word "hol", meaning "hollow" or "depression". It likely originated as a topographic name, referring to someone who lived near a hollow or valley.

In its earliest recorded use, the name appeared as "Holle" in the Domesday Book of 1086, a census commissioned by William the Conqueror. This document catalogued landowners and tenants in England and parts of Wales, indicating that the name was in use during the 11th century.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Holle of Hameldon, a 13th-century English landowner mentioned in the Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey, a medieval monastic chronicle. This suggests that the name was relatively widespread among the landed gentry of the time.

The name Holley gained prominence in the 16th century, with notable figures such as Holley Whitelocke (1570-1632), an English lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of King James I.

Another historical figure was Holley Croft (1590-1671), an English clergyman and scholar who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1657 to 1659.

In the 18th century, Holley Abbott (1717-1789) was a British naval officer who achieved the rank of Admiral and served in several major conflicts, including the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.

The 19th century saw the rise of Holley Bartlett (1804-1853), an American inventor and engineer who is credited with developing the first successful iron-framed building in the United States, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Moving into the 20th century, Holley Merten (1910-2005) was a prominent American artist known for her abstract expressionist paintings and her association with the New York School of artists.

Data source

The first name data used on this page comes from the Social Security Administration (SSA). They've been collecting data on baby names since 1880.

The history and meaning of the name Holley was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Holley, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!