Meaning and Origin of: Kelly

The name Kelly means clear mountain spring and is of Scandinavian and Irish origins.

Girl name origins & meanings

  • Scandinavian: Clear mountain spring
  • Irish: Church; warrior; wood; holly; farm by the spring

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Girl name variations

Boy name origins & meanings

  • German: Swamp
  • Irish: Powerful
  • Irish: Warrior

Family name origins & meanings

  • Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceallaigh ‘descendant of Ceallach’, an ancient Irish personal name, originally a byname meaning ‘bright-headed’, later understood as ‘frequenting churches’ (Irish ceall). There are several early Irish saints who bore this name. Kelly is now the most common of all Irish family names in Ireland.

Famous people with this last name