Kelly

A surname from Irish, Anglicised from the Irish Ó Ceallaigh.

Proper noun

  1. A surname from Irish, Anglicised from the Irish Ó Ceallaigh.
    • A better and more straightforward appeal, though less cool, was made to him by Hugh Kelly, - - - The play was so successful, and Garrick said so much of it that Lord Pembroke was eager to be back from Paris to see it,...
    • One way to see the radicalization of the likes of Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Megyn Kelly is that they are adopting Fuentes-Lite positions on issues like immigration and vaccines. - 2025 November 1, Richard...
  2. A unisex given name transferred from the surname.

    1. A male given name transferred from the surname.

    2. A female given name transferred from the surname, popular from the 1960s to the 1990s.

      • On the walls of the salon are blown-up photos of models with dazzling teeth and ingeniously tousled hair - women with names like Kelly and Dawn, who come from tiny towns in Texas and Washington, who are tall and thin,...
      • One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North...
  3. A placename

    1. A number of places in the United States:

      An unincorporated community in Nemaha County, Kansas.

    2. A number of places in the United States:

      An unincorporated community in Christian County, Kentucky.

    3. A number of places in the United States:

      An unincorporated community in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana.

    4. A number of places in the United States:

      A census-designated place in Bladen County, North Carolina.

    5. A number of places in the United States:

      A township in Union County, Pennsylvania.

    6. A number of places in the United States:

      An unincorporated community in Collin County, Texas.

    7. A number of places in the United States:

      An unincorporated community in Logan County, West Virginia.

    8. A number of places in the United States:

      A town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.

    9. A number of places in the United States:

      An unincorporated community in Clearfield, Juneau County, Wisconsin.

    10. A number of places in the United States:

      A census-designated place in Teton County, Wyoming.

    11. A small village and civil parish (without a council) in West Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SX3981).

    12. A locality on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, Australia.

Origin

Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceallaigh. Doublet of Kellogg and Callahan.

Forms

Kellies Kellys Kelley Kelli Kellie

Derived

Kelly Bray Kelly cytoscope Kelly pad Kellys Plains Kelly tool Ned Kelly Schmitt Gillenwater Kelly syndrome

Noun

  1. Kelly green.
    • ([…] something special in Kelly or red), whose narrow shawl collar has a slight V in back and knots at the throat in front. - 1949 November 19, The New Yorker, volume 25, page 88:
    • […] red or Kelly, with curved yoke and collar; and garments in skipper, pink, red, black or gray, with covered buttons on a yoked back. - 1949, Industrial Council of Cloak, Suit and Skirt Manufacturers, inc, Current...

Forms

Kelley Kelli Kellie