Molly
Molly is ranked 208th among girls in 2024 (1,465 births). Its best rank was 74th, in 1991.
- Rank in 2024
- #208same as 2023
- Births in 2024
- 1,4650.09% of girls
- Peak year
- 19914,652 births
- Best rank
- #74in 1991
- Since 1880
- 174,517people given the name
The story in the numbers
174,517 girls have been named Molly in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1991, with 4,652 births — 0.25% of all girls recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 122 → 208).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1993, and the 1990s alone account for 21%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 21 of them in the top 100.
Rank among girls, year by year
By decade
| Decade | girls named Molly | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 306 | |
| 1890s | 454 | |
| 1900s | 803 | |
| 1910s | 2,447 | |
| 1920s | 2,797 | |
| 1930s | 3,120 | |
| 1940s | 4,161 | |
| 1950s | 6,457 | |
| 1960s | 9,366 | |
| 1970s | 15,719 | |
| 1980s | 25,890 | |
| 1990s | 36,568 | |
| 2000s | 33,270 | |
| 2010s | 25,550 | |
| 2020s | 7,609 |
In 1991, its biggest year
Molly was the 74th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1991 were Ashley, Jessica, Brittany, Amanda and Samantha. See all of 1991.
Names that rose and fell with Molly
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Leeannapeak 1989
- Leannapeak 1990
- Rebecapeak 2003
- Simonepeak 1988
- Anapeak 1991
- Roxanapeak 1991
- Alysonpeak 1990
- Karalynpeak 1996
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.