Kelly
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɛli/
rhymes: -ɛli
Forms: form: Kellies
form: Kelley
form: Kelli
form: Kellie
Etymology: Borrowed from Irish Ó Ceallaigh. Doublet of Kellogg and Callahan.
Senses: examples: text: 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, though he said, with true aristocratic pride, that he could expect very little from such a name as "Kelly", especially if there be an "O'" before it.
ref: 1867, Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald, The Life of David Garrick, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, published 1899, page 319:
glosses: A surname from Irish, Anglicised from the Irish Ó Ceallaigh.
glosses: A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
A male given name transferred from the surname.
examples: text: 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, and who don't appear to be burdened by any pasts to speak of.
ref: 1986, Daphne Merkin, chapter 1986, in Enchantment, Harcourt Brace Jovanovi, →ISBN, page 207:
text: 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 Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to pass the “doc fix” legislation that realigned payments to Medicare providers with inflation.
ref: 2015 May 12, Alexandra Jaffe, “First on CNN: New Rove-linked group spends $2M to boost GOP incumbents”, in CNN:
glosses: A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
A female given name transferred from the surname, popular from the 1960s to the 1990s.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Nemaha County, Kansas.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Christian County, Kentucky.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
A census-designated place in Bladen County, North Carolina.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
A township in Union County, Pennsylvania.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Collin County, Texas.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Logan County, West Virginia.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
A town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
An unincorporated community in Clearfield, Juneau County, Wisconsin.
glosses: A placename
A number of places in the United States:
A census-designated place in Teton County, Wyoming.
glosses: A placename
A small village and civil parish (without a council) in West Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SX3981).
glosses: A placename
A locality on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, Australia.
Derived terms: Kelly Bray
Kelly cytoscope
Kelly pad
Ned Kelly
Schmitt Gillenwater Kelly syndrome