Entry № 6971 · Hebrew origin

Molly Molly — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ MOL-ee /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Hebrew
Meaning
"Bitter, beloved"
Syllables
2
First recorded
Medieval (English)

A name that means "bitter, beloved".

Molly is the English diminutive of Mary — from the Hebrew Miriam, possibly meaning "beloved" or "bitter" (the etymology is debated). The pet form Molly has been used since the medieval period.

Molly peaked at #80 in 1991 and remains continuously in the U.S. top 300. The character Molly Weasley in Harry Potter and Molly Bloom from Ulysses are major literary bearers.

Beloved. The everyday diminutive of Mary.

The name in its native script.

Molly
Transliteration
Molly
Pronunciation
/ ˈmɒl.i /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Molly stands.

Molly does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Mollys before her.

Real people
Molly Ringwald
American actress.
born 1968
Molly Shannon
American actress and comedian.
born 1964
In fiction
Molly Weasley
Matriarch of the Weasley family in Harry Potter.
1997 onward
Molly Bloom
Heroine of Joyce's Ulysses.
1922 novel

Names connected to Molly.

The number behind Molly.

5

The Seeker

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Molly reduce to 5, The Seeker. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.