Pollie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Mary or Polly.
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Pollie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pollie today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pollie births was 1920 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pollie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Pollie is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Pollies were born before 1961.
People living today
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
1920
33 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1987 SSA rank
#12,687
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Pollie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pollie from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 229 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pollie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Pollie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pollies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Pollie, while Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pollie
The name Pollie is a diminutive form of the name Pauline, which is the feminine version of the masculine name Paul. The name Paul has its origins in the Latin name Paulus, derived from the Roman family name Paulli. The name Paulli is thought to have come from the word "paulus," meaning "small" or "humble" in Latin.
The name Pauline gained popularity in the early Christian era, as it was the name of a female follower of Saint Paul, who was one of the most influential figures in the early Christian church. Pauline is mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible, specifically in the Book of Romans, where she is referred to as a "servant of the church."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pollie can be found in the 16th century. Pollie Vaughan (1576-1662) was an English poet and writer who was part of the literary circle known as the Metaphysical poets. Her works included religious poetry and translations of classical texts.
In the 18th century, Pollie Stevenson (1730-1800) was a Scottish writer and poet. She was born in Roxburghshire and is best known for her collection of poems titled "The Works of Pollie Stevenson," published in 1789.
Another notable figure with the name Pollie was Pollie Adler (1900-1962), an American author and journalist. She was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States with her family. Adler wrote several books, including "A House Is Not a Home" and "The Curtain Falls," which explored themes of immigration and assimilation.
In the 19th century, Pollie Woodside (1837-1919) was an American philanthropist and social reformer. She worked tirelessly to improve the lives of women and children, founding the Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men and the Pennsylvania Industrial Home for Blind Women.
Pollie Platt (1939-2011) was an American film producer and writer known for her collaborations with her husband, director James L. Brooks. She produced several critically acclaimed films, including "Terms of Endearment" and "Broadcast News," and won an Academy Award for Best Picture for "Terms of Endearment."
People
Pollie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pollie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pollie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pollie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pollie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Pollie a common name?
We classify Pollie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,265 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pollie most popular?
The single biggest year for Pollie was 1920, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pollie is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pollie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pollie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.