Entry № 8204 · Hebrew origin

Polly Polly — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ POL-ee /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Hebrew
Meaning
"Bitter, beloved"
Syllables
2
First recorded
18th c. (English)

A name that means "bitter, beloved".

Polly is an English diminutive of Molly — itself a diminutive of Mary (from the Hebrew Miriam).

Polly was hugely popular in 18th and 19th-century England. Today Polly is returning fast as part of the vintage revival.

Bitter, beloved — a Hebrew name.

The name in its native script.

Polly
Transliteration
Polly
Pronunciation
/ ˈpɒl.i /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Polly stands.

Polly 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.

Pollys before her.

Real people
Polly Klaas
American child who became symbol of child-safety legislation.
1981 – 1993
In fiction
Polly Peachum
Heroine of The Beggar's Opera.
1728 ballad opera

Names connected to Polly.

The number behind Polly.

8

The Visionary

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Polly reduce to 8, The Visionary. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.