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I like it fine for a boy. I wish names like Cary, Tracy, and Kelly were used for boys more often.

Love it

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Its actually not that uncommon in Australia. I think I know as many male Kelly's as female.

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I think its lovely and handsome.

We have a Kelly here on the boards who is a man and I used to know a young boy named Kelly (He'd probably be about twelve now).

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I adore it and I think it's much stronger on a boy. I'm not really a fan of it as a girls' name, but on a boy, it's pretty handsome and charming like Darcy and Shea.

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I also like it spelled Kelley on a boy.

This message was edited 6/6/2013, 1:42 PM

I used to prefer it on a boy, but these days I don't like it on either gender. I think it would be hard to live with as a boy, though.

I love Kelly on a man. I used to be acquainted with a male Kelly, he always wore a lot of green, Kelly is a very green name to me (yes I realize Kelly is a shade of green).

I don't care for it, but I also don't really care for it for a girl either. But I think it can work. It was never really used very much on boys before it started being used forgirls in the fifties, though, near as I can figure.

I prefer it on a man as well! I think it's very uninspired and dated to the 80s on a girl, but on a boy I find it interesting in a good way. I find that I usually have more tolerance for "less masculine" names on boys than many people do, though.

I think it's unisex. Like Robin and Leslie and Jamie and Terry and Lynn. I've met people of each sex named Kelly. I think it's fine on a guy. I guess that many people would tend to assume a Kelly is female, but I doubt that'd often be even a small problem.

I don't mind it but I don't think it's a name a boy would enjoy having. From my experience it's seen as extremely feminine and most people imagine the typical all American cheerleader with long blond hair and a tan when they hear the name.

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It works on Kelly Slater, because he's a rough, muscular surfer guy, but you really need a very intimidating or strong presence to be able to pull it off somewhat. It works okay on him. I once knew a very short, nerdy guy named Kelly and it seemed pretty ridiculous on him. I feel mean saying this but I wasn't the only one, everyone would start to chuckle when he introduced himself. He was a nice guy, but the name didn't exactly make his life easier.

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I think it's still trendy and boring on a guy, just like it is on a girl. It doesn't matter whether a guy or girl has this name, it has been around for so long that the sound of it is incredibly boring and tired to me. It has also been in the girls top 10 and even though it is originally masculine it has gone over to the females by now.

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Of course a child can dislike his name no matter what he's called, but with Kelly the probability is pretty high that he won't like it, especially now that many of his friends' mothers will be named Kelly.

Personally, I think it sounds too feminine. I can only imagine the name Kelly on a female. I voted on your poll and chose Kelley as my preferred spelling. To me, Kelley seems more masculine...probably because it seems more surname-y.

I think it's alright! Nice and unusual, much better on a boy than a girl.

Yes. I agree. I've always preferred Kelly on a man. On a woman, it's just another trendy name. But on a man it's handsome, strong, kind and romantic.