Polly

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Polly: Recorded every year since 1995, it reached #156 in 2021, and it stood at #325 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
69times a registrar ranked it
31years from first to last
#156highest recorded position
12groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#204
1997	#226
1998	#288
1999	#244
2000	#325
2001	#287
2002	#310
2003	#315
2004	#294
2005	#251
2006	#299
2007	#262
2008	#296
2009	#311
2010	#300
2011	#272
2012	#250
2013	#238
2014	#254
2015	#236
2016	#234
2017	#216
2018	#184
2019	#211
2020	#205
2021	#156
2022	#160
2023	#175
2024	#200

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

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 25 of the 31 years from 1995 to 2025.

In 2024: #200 among girls in England and Wales, #333 among girls in Scotland, #342 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1995–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1995
First recorded at #516 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1995 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1996–2024
Highest recorded position: #156 among girls in England and Wales, in 2021 (recorded 1996–2024).
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #325 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Polly appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 29 ranked years and 5,678 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1995.

Polly 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.

Polly'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	#516 (1995)	#296 (2023)	#325 (2025)	25 of 31	222 (1995–2025)	14 (2022)
England and Wales · Girls	#204 (1996)	#156 (2021)	#200 (2024)	29 of 29	5,678 (1996–2024)	337 (2021)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#358 (1997)	#193 (2023)	#193 (2023)	14 of 27	70 (1997–2023)	9 (2017)

Polly by decade in England and Wales · 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 Polly in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	686	4 of 10	172
2000s	1,433	10 of 10	143
2010s	2,133	10 of 10	213
2020sbusiest	1,426	5 of 10	285

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 285 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2020 and 2021, when recorded births rose by 97, from 240 to 337.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Polly 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 4 regions, from 1995 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #156 in England and Wales in 2021.

Polly'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
2024	England and Wales	female	#200	246	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#175	295	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#160	308	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#156	337	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#205	240	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#211	234	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#184	284	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#216	241	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#234	222	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#236	209	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#254	193	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#238	210	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#250	203	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#272	180	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#300	157	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#311	147	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#296	158	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#262	186	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#299	150	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#251	177	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#294	141	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#315	121	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#310	116	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#287	131	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#325	106	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#244	164	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#288	130	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#226	180	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#204	212	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	female	#193	9	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	female	#223	8	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	female	#281	5	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	female	#424	3	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#313	5	High	Verified
2017	Northern Ireland	female	#206	9	High	Verified
2016	Northern Ireland	female	#440	3	High	Verified
2015	Northern Ireland	female	#358	4	High	Verified
2013	Northern Ireland	female	#370	4	High	Verified
2012	Northern Ireland	female	#268	7	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	female	#366	4	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	female	#439	3	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	female	#339	3	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	female	#358	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#325	12	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#342	11	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#296	13	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#304	14	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#322	13	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#375	10	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#457	8	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	female	#387	11	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#324	13	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#359	12	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#402	11	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#536	7	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#374	12	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#435	10	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#465	9	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	female	#510	8	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#467	9	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#430	10	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#549	6	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	female	#523	5	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	female	#576	4	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#490	5	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	female	#498	3	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#576	3	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#333	10	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1995 and 2025, ranked in 31 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #156, first reached in 2021.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 337 births, registered in England and Wales in 2021.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 29 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.

Pola · #199, 22y
Polina · #555, 23y
Pollyanna · #825, 29y
Poppi · #444, 26y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 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.

Primrose · #157, 29y
Scarlet · #155, 29y
Kit · #154, 30y
Luan · #154, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Hattie · #156, 29y
Liberty · #157, 29y
Maksymilian · #157, 26y
Primrose · #157, 29y

Polly was ranked #156 in England and Wales · Girls in 2021. 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.

Polly 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 Polly without appearing here.

Polly moved ahead of

Brittany Compare
In 2000 they stood at #325 and #275 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #287 and #871.
Sharon Compare
In 2016 they stood at #536 and #494 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2017 that had become #324 and #873.
Christine Compare
In 2014 they stood at #536 and #536 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2015 that had become #402 and #896.
Sandra Compare
In 2021 they stood at #457 and #421 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2022 that had become #304 and #747.

Moved ahead of Polly

Éala Compare
In 2018 they stood at #387 and #411 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2019 that had become #457 and #180.
Fiadh Compare
In 2009 they stood at #467 and #488 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2010 that had become #510 and #319.
Maisie Compare
In 2003 they stood at #490 and #655 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2004 that had become #576 and #414.
Maddison Compare
In 1999 they stood at #244 and #248 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #325 and #175.

Moved the opposite way to Polly

Barbara Compare
Between 1995 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #516 to #296 while Barbara went from #352 to #856.
Courtney Compare
Between 1995 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #516 to #296 while Courtney went from #205 to #727.
Diane Compare
Between 1995 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #516 to #296 while Diane went from #211 to #727.
Kelly Compare
Between 1995 and 2023 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #516 to #296 while Kelly went from #39 to #404.

Moved the same way as Polly

Alma Compare
Between 1997 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #576 to #325 and Alma from #496 to #226.
Brooke Compare
Between 1997 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #576 to #325 and Brooke from #496 to #213.
Hanna Compare
Between 1997 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #576 to #325 and Hanna from #496 to #273.
Kayla Compare
Between 1997 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Polly went from #576 to #325 and Kayla from #363 to #130.

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 4 regions, from 1995 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #156 in England and Wales in 2021. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Polly

Polly at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Polly across 3 official records

Polly by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Polly appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Polly

Polly and the names beside it

Polly moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Polly

Moved the opposite way to Polly

Moved the same way as Polly

Polly at a glance

Polly across 3 official records

Polly by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Polly appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Polly

Polly and the names beside it

Polly moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Polly

Moved the opposite way to Polly

Moved the same way as Polly