girl's name
Kelli
KEL-ee
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 75,610
Scotland
#514
2001 births
Kelli respells Kelly, an Irish surname whose meaning is contested — bright-headed and strife are both proposed for Ó Ceallaigh, and neither has ever been established. It peaked in 1970, and holds 75,326 lifetime births.
- Kelli is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 1970, when 3,344 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 195,046 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1945.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Kelli over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1940s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1940s | 19 |
| 1950s | 1,986 |
| 1960s | 16,919 |
| 1970s | 21,637 |
| 1980s | 21,175 |
| 1990s | 10,263 |
| 2000s | 2,570 |
| 2010s | 490 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 133 |
What Kelli means
Kelli has no securely known meaning. Bright-headed and strife or contention are both proposed for the Irish surname behind it, and the sources do not agree.
Where Kelli comes from
Kelli respells Kelly, from the Irish Ó Ceallaigh — descendant of Ceallach, a personal name variously read as bright-headed, as strife, and as a word for a church. The Uí Cheallaigh were kings of Uí Maine in Connacht. Kelly became one of the most common Irish surnames, crossed to American given-name use in the twentieth century and turned female, and the -i ending belongs to the same mid-century fashion as Vicki and Terri.
Kelli in use
Kelli peaked in the United States in 1970, when 3,344 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 6,771st in the United States on 17 births, across 75,610 lifetime births. Our records carry it only from 1946, so it rose and fell inside eighty years.
How popular is Kelli?
In 2025, Kelli was given to 17 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Kelli is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Kelli
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kelli also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kelli over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Kelli in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Dutch
- Kelly
Sibling names for Kelli
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kelli — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kelli
What does the name Kelli mean?
Not settled. Bright-headed and strife are both proposed for the Irish Ceallach.
Is it Kelli or Kelly?
Kelly is the surname spelling; Kelli uses the mid-century American -i ending.
Was Kelly a boys' name?
It began as a surname used for both, and turned female in twentieth-century America.
How popular is Kelli?
6771st in the United States, down from a 1970 peak of 3,344 births.
How many syllables are in Kelli?
Kelli has 2 syllables.
Is Kelli a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kelli currently ranks #6,771 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.