Sally
- Pronunciation
- [Sa-lly]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Princess
- Origin
- Hebrew
About the Name Sally
Sally originated as a rhyming pet form of Sarah, following an old English nursery pattern in which initial consonants were substituted to create affectionate informal versions — the same pattern that gave Molly from Mary, Polly from Poll, and Nan from Ann. Sarah itself derives from the Hebrew Śārāh, meaning "princess" or "noblewoman," a name of great biblical antiquity as the wife of Abraham. Sally thus carries the deep heritage of Sarah while wearing a distinctly informal, affectionate English dress, and its long history of independent use — reaching back centuries in English-speaking communities — has given it a standing well beyond that of a mere nickname.
Sally first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 1930 and rose to its peak in 1939 at rank #52, accumulating over 111,000 top-1000 births over its run. Among its notable bearers is actress Sally Field (born 1946), whose six-decade career has included two Best Actress Academy Awards: in 1980 for Norma Rae and in 1985 for Places in the Heart. The name last appeared in the top-1000 in 2004 at rank #917.
Sally combines a light, cheerful sound with genuine historical depth, making it appealing to parents who want a name that feels both vintage and warmly approachable. Recorded variants include the crisp Sal and the traditional alternate spelling Sallie.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Sally
US Popularity History (1930–2004)
Annual US births named Sally by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1947 with 5,265 girls named Sally (girl rank #70 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2004, ranked #917 for girls (265 US births). That's 847 places below its 1947 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Sally Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Sally the strongest states are Utah, Alabama, North Carolina.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | #699 | 44 |
| 2 | Alabama | #816 | 18 |
| 3 | North Carolina | #832 | 46 |
| 4 | Colorado | #835 | 19 |
| 5 | Virginia | #856 | 35 |
| 6 | New York | #885 | 93 |
| 7 | Missouri | #908 | 19 |
| 8 | Washington | #920 | 23 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | #1,045 | 27 |
| 10 | California | #1,088 | 92 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | #1,088 | 92 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | #1,045 | 27 |
| 3 | Washington | #920 | 23 |
| 4 | Missouri | #908 | 19 |
| 5 | New York | #885 | 93 |
| 6 | Virginia | #856 | 35 |
| 7 | Colorado | #835 | 19 |
| 8 | North Carolina | #832 | 46 |
| 9 | Alabama | #816 | 18 |
| 10 | Utah | #699 | 44 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Sally in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named Sally
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Sally.
- Sally Field — TV Actress (1946)
Looking for names like Sally?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Sally to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Sally against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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