Polly is a special name for me for several reasons. First, as someone mentioned, I read An Old Fashioned Girl at a coming-of-age moment in my youth. Polly Milton inspired me to be sweet, loving, giving, and gracious to people. The fact that her "real" name in the story is Mary is even better because I have so many Marys in my family and some who I would love to honor but, I hate the name Mary (sorry Marys out there, I do like Mariellen in theory but still can't get past well, some connotations of those who I don't like named Mary) I can't decide between Polly Ellen and Ellen Polly or Ellen Pollyanne. I also love the name Pauline because of Anne of Avonlea so Pauline Ellen nickname Polly would be cute as well. Time will tell :) I personally believe whatever you name your child (within reason, some names such as Lucifer wouldn't apply) will come to fit your child and it won't seem outdated or weird at all. I highly prefer names like this to more modern ones.
Oh my stars, I really like the name Polly! It exudes a playful essence. With that said I can see how it may come off as a tad too cutesy for some.
― Anonymous User 5/14/2023, edited 5/14/2023
4
OK! BRACE YOURSELF! SAUSAGEPARTY IS COMING THROUGH... I'm British and have spent long periods of time living in United States and this is my opinion and JMO. Polly is one those names that would be better suited to a girl in England. In USA Polly is a combination of dated, twee and cliché. In England it's down-to-earth and sweet yet spirited.Lily would be an example of a name that would currently be better suited to an American girl than a British; in America Lily is feminine, refreshing and lovely in the UK it's uninspired and overused.The American English pronunciation of Polly also sounds quite a bit different from the English: p-OH-lly USA: p-AH-lly. The best way I can describe this is how American speakers say Polly nearly rhymes with the way we say Carly.My feelings towards Polly and Lily since I mentioned it is that they're both pretty names. If I had a baby girl in UK and had to choose out of those two names I'd go with Polly but if I was in America I'd go with Lily.With that said I can't wrap my mind around why Holly/Hollie isn't more popular in either locations as it's both very lovely and uncommon.➡️TLDR: Polly is to the UK what Lily is to USA. Holly/Hollie is criminally underused so if you like Polly but put off by the cracker/Polly Pocket association why not consider Holly instead?
I read that this name means 'sorrow' and would be interested to know how true that is because I find Polly to be a darling little name. I really like it! It doesn't sound sorrowful it sounds bright, chipper and girly.
― Anonymous User 5/14/2022
6
So feminine and down to earth. I find Polly to be refreshing, light and girly. Love that it's been in use since Medieval times, funny that it's a nickname for Mary. Polly and Lucy are both old, sweet and girly names that remind me of each other, they go together nicely.
― Anonymous User 5/4/2022
5
My name is Polly Marie. Named after my great-grandmother, who was from the backwoods of Kentucky. My family's origins are Irish and some Native American. My great-grandma was a wonderful woman and loved everyone and treated everyone with respect. I was born in 1968. I love my name! It's not a common name for one and I always have people ask if it's short for anything, it's not and that they love that it's old-fashioned. The best part is that she was extremely proud that her grandson named his baby girl after her.
My birth name is Pola, and it's literally the same word as fields in Poland. I think I'll try to go by Polly to stop feeling so uncomfortable with my birth name. I don't feel 100% female but I don't care about the gender of my name as long as it's pretty and doesn't make me feel dehumanized (I think I'm agender).
I adore this name and find it to be gentle, personable and sweet. I also prefer how it's said in England to America where the Po seems to rhyme with the Da in Dahlia.
Your quadruplets could be named... Polly, Molly, Holly, Dolly Your twins of your quadruplets could be named... Polleigh, Molleigh, Holleigh / Holy, Dolleigh. And your other kids could be named... Milly, Silly, Willy And the twins of your other kids could be named... Milleigh, Silleigh, Willeigh.
All I can think of is a doll. It gives me the association of a girly girl all dressed in pink. And the P sounds a bit harsh too. Molly is much better. But I guess this version is alright.
I first heard of this name when I was extremely young and I saw Barbie dolls in the street. I don’t know.. it gives me that excessively girly vibe. Not too into it.
I love this name. I think it’s very cute. However, I agree it doesn’t age well. I might be biased because one of my favorite book characters is named Polly. Sweet character, sweet name.
Polly is a cute name that makes me think of little girls and old women. For some reason it makes me think of someone affectionate and sweet. I think it works both as a nickname and as a name on its own.
― Anonymous User 8/20/2016
7
L O V E this name! Our third daughter & baby girl is called Polly and we have received so much gorgeous feedback on her name.
I rather like this unusual name, maybe because I am a PJ Harvey fan! I think Polly Jean sounds better than just Polly though. Interesting to think that 'Polly Jean' is a variant of 'Mary Jane', the latter sounds very old fashioned girly-girl to me, whilst the former sounds a lot cooler!
"Brawk! Brawk! Polly wanna cracker?" I can't imagine how many times someone would have to endure that shouted in their faces, even after they get out of school and playground teasing.
I've always liked Polly, it's cute and just a fun name! Molly is a bit girly for me. I like Polly better. I think it's adorable! I love this name! I think it's uncommon these days and cute. Anyway it's better then the ever popular Hannah or Emily.
I have always hated this name. It sounds flat out ugly. This would probably have been a good name for a wallflower-y, unattractive, and boring character in some stories from the 1950s. I can't imagine anyone using it today. At least Molly is kind of cute, even if a bit too girly.
I don't really like this name at all. It reminds me either of Polly Pocket, who kind of creeps me out, or of Polly the Parrot. Hmmmmm. Either a creepy miniature doll or an annoying egotistic bird.
I am called Polly and I'm in two minds about it beacuse it's pretty old fashioned but individual in a nice kind of way and it's not like it's totally unheard of. Sometimes it can be embarrasing though because you have to repeat your name about 7 times before somebody gets it right - I get called Holly, Molly, Pauline, Paulie, Dolly and sometimes Connie!