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Summary
- No one named Holly appears in the Bible, and no English translation mentions the holly plant.
- The name comes from the English word for the holly tree, Old English holen; it is not related to the word “holy,” Old English halig.
- Holly’s Christian meaning comes from Christmas custom: English churches bought holly and ivy for decoration by the late Middle Ages.
- Christians read its spiny leaves as the crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29) and its red berries as Christ’s blood; in Danish it is called kristtorn, “Christ-thorn.”
- The carol “The Holly and the Ivy,” known from early 19th-century broadsides, links each part of the plant to the birth and work of Jesus.
- Holly peaked at 48th for American girls in 1979 and 1983, and was the top name for Irish girls born in December for ten years up to 2023.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Behind the Name, “Holly” and “Hollis,” with United States popularity figures from Social Security Administration data. https://www.behindthename.com/name/holly
- Online Etymology Dictionary, “holly” and “holy.” https://www.etymonline.com/word/holly
- “Holly (name),” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_(name)
- “Ilex aquifolium,” Wikipedia, on the plant’s native range. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_aquifolium
- “Kristtorn,” Danish Wikipedia. https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristtorn
- “The Holly and the Ivy,” Wikipedia, on the carol’s broadside sources and Cecil Sharp’s 1909 collection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holly_and_the_Ivy
- English Heritage, “A Short History of Christmas Greenery.” https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/christmas-greenery-history/
- Penn State Extension, “Holly: Legends, Customs, and Myths.” https://extension.psu.edu/holly-legends-customs-and-myths
- Central Statistics Office, Ireland, press statement “CSO Reveals Most Popular December Baby Names 2024.” https://www.cso.ie/en/csolatestnews/pressreleases/2025pressreleases/pressstatement-csorevealsmostpopulardecemberbabynames2024/
- Bible Gateway keyword searches for “holly” in ten English translations, including the King James Version, Douay-Rheims, English Standard Version, New International Version and New American Bible Revised Edition (no results). https://www.biblegateway.com/
- Scripture references (English Standard Version): Matthew 27:29, 34; John 19:2.
