How Many People Are Named Molly?
An estimated 154,836 people in the United States have the first name Molly. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #346 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 32 years old, and Molly peaked in popularity in 1991 with 4,663 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Molly as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Molly paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Molly is overwhelmingly female, 360 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
154,836
About 1 in 2,214 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
32
years old
Peak Year
1991
4,663 births
Total Registered
174,877
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Molly
Molly is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 174,877 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Molly as a male name
Ranked #13,398 in 2014
5 male births in 2014
Peak: 1989 (33 births)
Molly as a female name
Ranked #208 in 2024
1,465 female births in 2024
Peak: 1991 (4,652 births)
Molly: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Molly span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 36,629 babies were registered. Molly has declined significantly from its peak in the 1990s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Molly by Decade
How has Molly tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 306 | 0 | 306 | |
| 1890s | 454 | 0 | 454 | |
| 1900s | 803 | 0 | 803 | |
| 1910s | 2,447 | 0 | 2,447 | |
| 1920s | 2,797 | 0 | 2,797 | |
| 1930s | 3,120 | 0 | 3,120 | |
| 1940s | 4,161 | 0 | 4,161 | |
| 1950s | 6,457 | 0 | 6,457 | |
| 1960s | 9,366 | 0 | 9,366 | |
| 1970s | 15,780 | 61 | 15,719 | |
| 1980s | 26,041 | 151 | 25,890 | |
| 1990s | 36,629 | 61 | 36,568 | |
| 2000s | 33,329 | 59 | 33,270 | |
| 2010s | 25,578 | 28 | 25,550 | |
| 2020s | 7,609 | 0 | 7,609 | |
Molly by State
Birth registrations for Molly span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Ohio, New York. The lowest are in Hawaii, Wyoming, Delaware. On average, about 3,334 Mollys were registered per state.
Molly + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Molly as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Molly
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Molly: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Molly?
We estimate approximately 154,836 people named Molly are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 2,214 Americans share this first name.
Is Molly a common name?
Molly is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 174,877 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Molly most popular?
Molly reached peak popularity in 1991, when 4,663 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Molly is approximately 32 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Molly a female name?
Molly is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Molly Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Molly Smith, Molly Johnson, Molly Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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