Tolly

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Possibly son + Talmai; Ptolemy, through Bartholomew

Tolly has been given to 17 babies in the U.S. since 1947. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1949, with 6 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 65% boys, 35% girls all-time.

Babies named Tolly, 1949

1 in 581,000

Tolly over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Tolly over time

In 1976, Tolly went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19471976

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Tolly: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly son + Talmai; Ptolemy, through Bartholomew

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Tolly means

Tolly belongs to the name family reached through Tolly → Bartholomew. Its meaning is “son + Talmai; Ptolemy”.

Origin, language, and formation

Tolly is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Bartholomew.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11 boys were recorded with the name Tolly between 1947 and 1949. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1949; its best national rank was #3,659 in 1949.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Tolly between 1976 and 1976. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1976; its best national rank was #9,190 in 1976.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Tolly?

Tolly had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1949, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1949: 1 in 581,000; 6 of 3,484,085 births
Among boys only: 1 in 296,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1949: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 402,498 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Tolly sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1949 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 402,498 children born in 1949 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tolly. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tollys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tolly was born before 1949 — so the typical Tolly is around 76 today.

Median birth year: 1949; About 76 years old
Biggest decade: 1940s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1940s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (11).

Is Tolly rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1949 (6)
Years since peak: 76; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #3,659; 1949

Spellings of Tolly

Tolly is not the most common spelling — Billy is, with 37.0% against Tolly's <0.01%.

Billy37.0%384,233
Tony24.2%251,595
Tommy17.2%178,733
Kelly7.9%82,400
Colby5.2%53,971
Toby3.4%34,846
Kolby1.1%11,650
Tory0.67%6,990

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Tolly by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #3,659; 1949
Peak year: 1949; 6 that year
First recorded: 1947
Last recorded: 1949
All-time count: 11
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #9,190; 1976
Peak year: 1976; 6 that year
First recorded: 1976
Last recorded: 1976
All-time count: 6
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Tolly

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Toler Tolkien Tolga Tola Tolan Toland Tolson Nelly Polly Lilly Hally Kally Elly Tol Ally Dolly Philly Toliver Olly Rally Tolulope Tolliver Rolly Tally

Sibling names for Tolly

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Roseanna Karon Carlotta Mickey Roseanne Peggie Delois Janey

For a brother

Donn Lanny Williams Felton Rogers Ivory Artis Galen

Explore around Tolly

Top names of 1949, Tolly's peak year The 1940s in full Other names that peaked in 1949 Boys' names starting with T