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Kelly, near as I can figure from what I've read, was like the "default" name for Irishmen in Ye Olde Days. Like Paddy but a bit different. I went through a phase as a teenage of liking old western stories, and there always seemed to be a drunk, temperamental but good-hearted Irish cook at the camp named Kelly or Kelley. It was never clear if Kelly was the first or last name, but I suspect Kelly was not used as a first name by many actual Irish people.

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Kelly on a man is even more dated than Kelly on a woman. The principal of my daughter's school used to be a man named Kelly, and his last name was another surname that's popular as a girl's name, or used to be; also his last name was very similar in sound and spelling to Kelly so the whole combo looked like a stage name some 1980's hair-metal musician would give himself.