Nameling

Kelli

Gender
Girl
Say it
KEL-ee
Origin
Irish
US rank, 2025
#6,545 for girls

Kelli is a girls' name of Irish origin. In 2025 it ranked 6,545th for girls in the US (17 babies).

What does Kelli mean?

Irish: spelling of Kelly; from the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh

From the Irish surname Ó Ceallaigh, descendant of Ceallach, an old name of disputed meaning.

Meaning borrowed from Kelly. More on Wiktionary.

Is Kelli a girl's or a boy's name?

Kelli is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 17 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.

How popular is Kelli in the UK?

No girls in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 1996, with 10 girls.

Half of all the girls named Kelli in the UK since 1996 were born between 1998 and 2002. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier girls aren't counted.

1996Busiest: 10 in 19962015
Kelli in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
20151#7,629
20140–
20130–
20120–
20110–
20101#7,520
20091#7,377
20080–
20070–
20061#6,685
20051#6,340
20042#6,098
20036#2,877
20027#2,436
20019#1,974
20001#5,280
19995#2,912
199810#1,815
19972#5,038
199610#1,741

How popular is Kelli in the US?

Rank in 2025
#6,545among girls
Babies in 2025
17about 1 in 95,000 girls
Five-year trend
Fallingdown 50% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 17 girls in the US were named Kelli, making it the 6,545th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,261st. Its busiest year was 1970, with 3,331 girls. It first appears in the records in 1945.

Half of all the girls named Kelli in the US since 1880 were born between 1969 and 1987, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 378 girls in the US were given Kelli or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #729, up from #6,545 for this spelling alone.

1945Busiest: 3,331 in 19702025
Kelli in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202517#6,545
202415#7,247
202322#5,544
202224#5,306
202123#5,394
202032#4,261
201939#3,787
201837#3,917
201730#4,574
201640#3,777
201541#3,704
201452#3,135
201342#3,643
201266#2,679
201167#2,637
201076#2,451
200998#2,076
2008118#1,824
2007129#1,695
2006152#1,462
2005194#1,185
2004260#926
2003320#775
2002368#682
2001448#573
2000483#537
1999549#477
1998572#450
1997670#387
1996792#350
1995923#301
19941,063#263
19931,229#227
19921,336#216
19911,498#197
19901,605#181
19891,734#165
19881,864#150
19872,110#131
19862,000#142
19852,059#142
19841,981#147
19832,162#136
19822,373#127
19812,280#126
19802,486#125
19792,218#129
19782,326#124
19772,466#117
19761,820#147
19751,768#152
19741,606#168
19731,725#157
19721,899#150
19712,381#135
19703,331#115
19693,055#115
19682,321#137
19671,810#174
19661,730#190
19651,538#215
19641,650#212
19631,385#235
19621,317#240
19611,106#275
1960955#301
1959762#346
1958533#399
1957288#568
1956132#868
195594#1,033
195462#1,255
195359#1,260
195230#1,819
195118#2,390
19508#3,960
19499#3,611
19480–
19475#5,293
19460–
19455#4,554

Names like Kelli

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Keira Erin Heidi Caragh Ffion Cassidy Cara Teagan Raegan Bridget Caitlin Caoimhe

Other spellings of Kelli

Kelly Kellie Kelley Keli

Names related to Kelli

Kalli Kelilah Kelia Kaeli Keyli

More Irish names

Oscar Rowan Rory Maeve Finn Aiden Ryan Nolan Quinn Orla Cody Ronan Connor Declan Casey Kennedy

Every Irish name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Kelli: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kelli, updated 20 October 2026.