Holly

Where the name comes from

• English (from Old English)
  holly, the evergreen shrub with spiny leaves and red berries
  Old English holegn, holen 'holly', from Proto-Germanic *hulin-
  Holly is the English word for the plant, used as a name. The Old English word is more than 850 years old. By the mid-1100s it had become holin. Later it was shortened to holly. Related words include Dutch and German hulst, Welsh celyn and Irish cuileann. Etymonline says these words probably come from an ancient root meaning 'to prick,' after the plant's spiny leaves. The origin is the plant name. Ideas such as 'protection' or 'eternal life' are popular symbolic readings. They are not what the word means.
• Irish, English and Czech/Slovak (surname)
  varies by family
  Gaelic Mac Cuilinn; English Holley; Czech/Slovak Holý
  Holly as a family name has more than one origin. In Ireland it can be a partial translation of the Gaelic surname Mac Cuilinn, which comes from cuileann, 'holly.' In England it can be a variant of Holley. In America it can be a changed form of the Czech or Slovak surname Holý.
• Spanish (related word)
  holly
  acebo, from Latin aquifolium 'sharp-leafed'
  The Spanish word for holly is acebo. It also appears in Spain as a place name and a family name, Acebo. No source shows acebo used as a Spanish first name that matches Holly.

Holly across traditions

• Christmas customs in Europe and North America. Holly's evergreen leaves and red berries last into winter. That has made them classic Christmas decorations. The name is often linked to the holiday season.
• Latin America. Yerba mate, the plant used to make the mate drink of South America, belongs to the holly family (genus Ilex).
• American literature and film. Holly Golightly is the heroine of Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958). Audrey Hepburn played her in the 1961 film.
• US popularity. Most popular in the 1970s, when it ranked #58 among US girls' names for the decade. It stayed close to that level in the 1980s at #59.

Who carried it

• Holly Hunter (born 1958): American actress from Conyers, Georgia. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Piano (1993).
• Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley) (1936–1959): Rock and roll pioneer from Lubbock, Texas. Holly is his surname, not a first name. His family name was spelled Holley, and the 'e' was probably dropped by accident on his first record contract.

Forms in other languages

Hollie, Holli

Holly in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.