Kelley

Where Kelley comes from

The dictionaries list Kelley as a given name — a unisex given name transferred from the surname — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • From a surname
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1919
    First appearance
    #4,251 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1954
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1968
    Peak, #168
    1,918 babies named Kelley — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1981
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #261.
  5. 1988
    Kelley Hurley born
    American épée fencer
  6. 1988
    Kelley O'Hara born
    American soccer player
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Kelley O'Hara · American soccer player, born 1988
  • Kelley Hurley · American épée fencer, born 1988
  • Kelley Armstrong · Canadian writer, born 1968
  • Kelley Deal · American musician, born 1961
  • Kelley Law · Canadian female curler, born 1966

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.