Molly
Molly was given to 1,601 girls in 2025, #196 among girls’ names; 176,487 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 160,000 Americans named Molly and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (91% of everyone recorded); the median is 30 years old and half are between 18 and 42.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Molly by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Molly mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Molly is “a female given name from Hebrew.”
From Moll, diminutive lambdacism of Mary + -y.
/ˈmɑ.li/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Molly?
#196 among girls’ names, 2025
Molly fell from #144 in 2015 to #196 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 1.3 to 1.0 per 1,000.
4,663 babies in 1991, the peak
Molly peaked in 1991, when 4,663 babies were given it (4,652 girls, #74 among girls’ names). The 1,601 births of 2025 are 34% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,601 | #196 | 1.0 |
| 2024 | 1,474 | #208 | 0.91 |
| 2023 | 1,437 | #209 | 0.90 |
| 2022 | 1,481 | #199 | 0.90 |
| 2021 | 1,583 | #186 | 1.0 |
| 2020 | 1,645 | #173 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | 1,757 | #161 | 1.0 |
| 2018 | 1,799 | #158 | 1.1 |
| 2017 | 1,829 | #166 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | 1,986 | #157 | 1.1 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,254 | #144 | 1.3 |
| 2014 | 2,605 | #122 | 1.5 |
| 2013 | 3,084 | #102 | 1.8 |
| 2012 | 3,261 | #90 | 1.9 |
| 2011 | 3,616 | #78 | 2.1 |
| 2010 | 3,362 | #87 | 1.9 |
| 2009 | 3,510 | #92 | 1.9 |
| 2008 | 3,321 | #104 | 1.8 |
| 2007 | 3,415 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 2006 | 3,127 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 2005 | 3,215 | #97 | 1.7 |
| 2004 | 3,344 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 2003 | 3,403 | #99 | 1.9 |
| 2002 | 3,119 | #107 | 1.7 |
| 2001 | 3,415 | #90 | 1.9 |
| 2000 | 3,402 | #96 | 1.9 |
| 1999 | 3,326 | #102 | 1.9 |
| 1998 | 3,192 | #108 | 1.8 |
| 1997 | 3,452 | #98 | 2.0 |
| 1996 | 3,312 | #99 | 1.9 |
| 1995 | 3,382 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1994 | 3,441 | #96 | 1.9 |
| 1993 | 3,708 | #87 | 2.0 |
| 1992 | 4,137 | #83 | 2.2 |
| 1991 | 4,652 | #74 | 2.5 |
| 1990 | 3,965 | #80 | 2.1 |
| 1989 | 3,460 | #93 | 1.9 |
| 1988 | 3,461 | #86 | 1.9 |
| 1987 | 2,891 | #97 | 1.7 |
| 1986 | 2,548 | #110 | 1.5 |
| 1985 | 2,434 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1984 | 2,178 | #131 | 1.3 |
| 1983 | 2,311 | #129 | 1.4 |
| 1982 | 2,317 | #131 | 1.4 |
| 1981 | 2,089 | #135 | 1.3 |
| 1980 | 2,202 | #133 | 1.3 |
| 1979 | 2,022 | #139 | 1.3 |
| 1978 | 1,931 | #142 | 1.3 |
| 1977 | 2,067 | #141 | 1.3 |
| 1976 | 1,729 | #150 | 1.2 |
| 1975 | 1,547 | #170 | 1.1 |
| 1974 | 1,480 | #179 | 1.0 |
| 1973 | 1,329 | #195 | 0.91 |
| 1972 | 1,234 | #226 | 0.81 |
| 1971 | 1,185 | #248 | 0.71 |
| 1970 | 1,191 | #259 | 0.68 |
| 1969 | 1,093 | #265 | 0.65 |
| 1968 | 1,020 | #265 | 0.62 |
| 1967 | 1,016 | #265 | 0.62 |
| 1966 | 984 | #265 | 0.58 |
| 1965 | 1,062 | #264 | 0.60 |
| 1964 | 1,001 | #290 | 0.53 |
| 1963 | 859 | #320 | 0.45 |
| 1962 | 821 | #327 | 0.42 |
| 1961 | 781 | #337 | 0.39 |
| 1960 | 727 | #361 | 0.36 |
| 1959 | 763 | #344 | 0.38 |
| 1958 | 746 | #343 | 0.37 |
| 1957 | 699 | #341 | 0.34 |
| 1956 | 654 | #344 | 0.33 |
| 1955 | 622 | #344 | 0.32 |
| 1954 | 599 | #351 | 0.31 |
| 1953 | 582 | #345 | 0.31 |
| 1952 | 617 | #332 | 0.33 |
| 1951 | 612 | #320 | 0.34 |
| 1950 | 564 | #324 | 0.33 |
| 1949 | 556 | #328 | 0.32 |
| 1948 | 562 | #331 | 0.33 |
| 1947 | 484 | #366 | 0.27 |
| 1946 | 415 | #371 | 0.26 |
| 1945 | 333 | #387 | 0.25 |
| 1944 | 366 | #367 | 0.28 |
| 1943 | 386 | #366 | 0.28 |
| 1942 | 375 | #362 | 0.28 |
| 1941 | 339 | #364 | 0.28 |
| 1940 | 345 | #349 | 0.30 |
| 1939 | 348 | #340 | 0.32 |
| 1938 | 329 | #359 | 0.30 |
| 1937 | 306 | #369 | 0.29 |
| 1936 | 316 | #357 | 0.30 |
| 1935 | 301 | #365 | 0.29 |
| 1934 | 291 | #369 | 0.28 |
| 1933 | 271 | #394 | 0.27 |
| 1932 | 315 | #361 | 0.30 |
| 1931 | 300 | #370 | 0.28 |
| 1930 | 342 | #362 | 0.30 |
| 1929 | 320 | #375 | 0.29 |
| 1928 | 315 | #381 | 0.27 |
| 1927 | 258 | #431 | 0.22 |
| 1926 | 255 | #433 | 0.22 |
| 1925 | 241 | #443 | 0.20 |
| 1924 | 290 | #404 | 0.23 |
| 1923 | 293 | #388 | 0.24 |
| 1922 | 277 | #397 | 0.23 |
| 1921 | 302 | #385 | 0.24 |
| 1920 | 246 | #427 | 0.21 |
| 1919 | 258 | #400 | 0.23 |
| 1918 | 306 | #374 | 0.26 |
| 1917 | 310 | #357 | 0.29 |
| 1916 | 333 | #336 | 0.32 |
| 1915 | 325 | #331 | 0.33 |
| 1914 | 247 | #337 | 0.32 |
| 1913 | 197 | #346 | 0.32 |
| 1912 | 197 | #323 | 0.35 |
| 1911 | 129 | #354 | 0.31 |
| 1910 | 145 | #316 | 0.37 |
| 1909 | 109 | #346 | 0.31 |
| 1908 | 101 | #360 | 0.30 |
| 1907 | 113 | #328 | 0.35 |
| 1906 | 86 | #362 | 0.29 |
| 1905 | 71 | #402 | 0.24 |
| 1904 | 72 | #392 | 0.26 |
| 1903 | 75 | #370 | 0.29 |
| 1902 | 54 | #423 | 0.20 |
| 1901 | 55 | #401 | 0.23 |
| 1900 | 67 | #411 | 0.22 |
| 1899 | 47 | #428 | 0.20 |
| 1898 | 39 | #499 | 0.15 |
| 1897 | 50 | #418 | 0.21 |
| 1896 | 49 | #415 | 0.21 |
| 1895 | 45 | #422 | 0.19 |
| 1894 | 36 | #471 | 0.16 |
| 1893 | 58 | #354 | 0.27 |
| 1892 | 51 | #375 | 0.24 |
| 1891 | 33 | #445 | 0.18 |
| 1890 | 46 | #372 | 0.24 |
| 1889 | 35 | #415 | 0.20 |
| 1888 | 37 | #409 | 0.21 |
| 1887 | 32 | #388 | 0.22 |
| 1886 | 29 | #404 | 0.20 |
| 1885 | 30 | #378 | 0.23 |
| 1884 | 32 | #356 | 0.25 |
| 1883 | 30 | #328 | 0.27 |
| 1882 | 30 | #325 | 0.28 |
| 1881 | 33 | #278 | 0.36 |
| 1880 | 18 | #400 | 0.20 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Molly a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Molly has been given almost only to girls: 360 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Molly: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Molly, and how old are they?
160,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 91% of the 176,487 Americans ever recorded as Molly. The median Molly alive today is 30 years old; half are between 18 and 42.
The 2020 Census counted 153,463 people named Molly (153,233 women and girls, 230 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 154,140 born in the U.S. The Census count matches that prediction to within 1%.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,810 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 9,990 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 21,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 49,100 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 53,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 24,400 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Molly born?
The states with the most babies named Molly are Texas, New York and California, with 20% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 136 | #256 | 0.6× |
| New York | 105 | #155 | 0.9× |
| California | 83 | #402 | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 78 | #141 | 1.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 74 | #150 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 71 | #140 | 1.1× |
| New Jersey | 67 | #112 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 58 | #319 | 0.5× |
| Massachusetts | 57 | #98 | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 53 | #206 | 0.8× |
Where Molly is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Molly is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Molly with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 228,070 babies since 1880, Molly is the most given (77% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,601 of their 1,822 babies (88%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Molly
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Molly and names like it
- Compare Molly and MollieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sMolly peaked in 1991.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Molly since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Molly: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1991The year the most babies were named Molly.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Molly alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with MMost given first.