Kelley

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Kelley: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Kelley: Recorded since 1974, it reached #242 in 1987, and it was last ranked in 2009.

2registrars recorded it
32times a registrar ranked it
36years from first to last
#242highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–1997

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2096
1997	#3824

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 28 of the 30 years from 1974 to 2003.

In 1997: #326 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #3824 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1974–2009 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1974
First recorded at #428 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1974 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1974–2003
Highest recorded position: #242 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1987 (recorded 1974–2003).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2009
Most recently recorded at #4527 among boys in England and Wales, in 2009.
England and Wales · Boys

Kelley appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Girls, which has ranked it in 28 years beginning in 1974, and has registered 229 births with the name.

Kelley across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Kelley's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#428 (1974)	#242 (1987)	#559 (2003)	28 of 30	229 (1974–2003)	17 (1980)
England and Wales · Boys	#3225 (2002)	#3225 (2002)	#4527 (2009)	2 of 8	6 (2002–2009)	3 (2002)
England and Wales · Girls	#2096 (1996)	#2096 (1996)	#3824 (1997)	2 of 2	10 (1996–1997)	7 (1996)

Kelley by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Kelley in Republic of Ireland · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1970s	31	5 of 10	6
1980sbusiest	95	10 of 10	10
1990s	90	10 of 10	9
2000s	13	3 of 10	4

Across Republic of Ireland · Girls, the 1980s were its busiest decade, averaging 10 births a year.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Kelley appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1974 to 2009. Highest recorded position: #242 in Republic of Ireland in 1987.

Kelley's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2009	England and Wales	male	#4527	3	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#3225	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#3824	3	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#2096	7	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#559	4	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	female	#406	6	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	female	#606	3	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	female	#439	4	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	female	#270	9	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#326	9	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	female	#393	6	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#296	10	High	Verified
1994	Republic of Ireland	female	#350	7	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	female	#320	9	High	Verified
1992	Republic of Ireland	female	#249	15	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	female	#300	10	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	female	#281	11	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	female	#503	3	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	female	#359	7	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	female	#242	16	High	Verified
1986	Republic of Ireland	female	#356	7	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	female	#325	9	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	female	#414	5	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	female	#347	8	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	female	#355	8	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	female	#263	15	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	female	#258	17	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	female	#391	6	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	female	#315	10	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	female	#348	8	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	female	#503	3	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	female	#428	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1974 and 2009, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #242, first reached in 1987.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 17 births, registered in Republic of Ireland in 1980.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 5 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 22 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Kelis · #377, 20y
Kellan · #699, 29y
Kelli · #362, 15y
Kellie · #40, 54y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Kaylem · #242, 28y
Bozena · #241, 30y
Davis · #243, 31y
Edda · #243, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1970 and 1979.

Lyndsay · #242, 22y
Edda · #243, 30y
Emlyn · #240, 34y
Garth · #240, 15y

Kelley was ranked #242 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 1987. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Kelley and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Kelley without appearing here.

Kelley moved ahead of

Marilyn Compare
In 1986 they stood at #414 and #414 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1987 that had become #242 and #488.
Camilla Compare
In 1989 they stood at #503 and #408 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1990 that had become #281 and #517.
Jeanette Compare
In 1989 they stood at #503 and #503 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1990 that had become #281 and #517.
Lynette Compare
In 1989 they stood at #503 and #503 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1990 that had become #281 and #517.

Moved ahead of Kelley

Brooke Compare
In 2000 they stood at #326 and #496 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2001 that had become #606 and #254.
Shania Compare
In 1998 they stood at #270 and #345 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1999 that had become #439 and #165.
Bonnie Compare
In 2000 they stood at #393 and #471 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2001 that had become #606 and #400.
Matilda Compare
In 2000 they stood at #326 and #496 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2001 that had become #606 and #400.

Moved the opposite way to Kelley

Aimee Compare
Between 1977 and 2003 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Kelley went from #348 to #559 while Aimee went from #429 to #48.
Hayley Compare
Between 1977 and 2003 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Kelley went from #348 to #559 while Hayley went from #518 to #143.
Katie Compare
Between 1977 and 2003 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Kelley went from #348 to #559 while Katie went from #391 to #5.
Megan Compare
Between 1977 and 2003 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Kelley went from #348 to #559 while Megan went from #518 to #16.

Moved the same way as Kelley

Cassandra Compare
Between 1977 and 2003 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Kelley went from #348 to #559 and Cassandra from #391 to #655.
Renee Compare
Between 1977 and 2003 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Kelley went from #348 to #559 and Renee from #429 to #655.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1974 to 2009. Highest recorded position: #242 in Republic of Ireland in 1987. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Kelley

Kelley at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Kelley across 3 official records

Kelley by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Kelley appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Kelley

Kelley and the names beside it

Kelley moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kelley

Moved the opposite way to Kelley

Moved the same way as Kelley

Kelley at a glance

Kelley across 3 official records

Kelley by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Kelley appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Names published alongside Kelley

Kelley and the names beside it

Kelley moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kelley

Moved the opposite way to Kelley

Moved the same way as Kelley