Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). [1] Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina, Polona, Pauline, Paula or Paulina.
People
Female
Given name
- PJ Harvey (born 1969), English singer/songwriter
- Polly Apfelbaum (born 1955), American contemporary visual artist
- Polly Arnold (born 1972), British academic
- Polly Baca (born 1941), American politician
- Polly Bartlett, American serial killer, perhaps fictitious
- Polly Barton, American textile artist
- Polly Bemis (1853–1933), Chinese-American pioneer
- Polly Bennett (1922–2003), American artist
- Polly Berry (c. 1818–c. 1870–1880), also known as Polly Crockett and Polly Wash, African-American slave who successfully sued for her freedom and that of her daughter
- Polly Borland (born 1959), Australian photographer
- Polly Bradfield ( fl. 1977–1986, American violinist
- Polly Brown (born 1947), English singer
- Polly Draper (born 1955), American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director
- Polly Dunbar (born 1977), British author and illustrator
- Polly Emery (1875–1958), British actress
- Polly Gage (1805–1882), namesake of Aunt Polly's Wash Tub
- Polly Granzow (born 1941), American politician
- Polly Hill (economist) (1914–2005), British economic historian
- Polly Holliday (born 1937), American actress
- Polly Horvath (born 1957), Canadian author
- Polly James (broadcaster) (born 1986 or 1987), Welsh radio and television presenter
- Polly James (screenwriter) (fl. 1940s–1950s), American screen writer
- Polly Klaas (1981–1993), American teen murder victim
- Polly Maberly (born 1976), English actress
- Polly Matzinger (born 1947), French immunologist
- Polly Allen Mellen (born 1924), American stylist and fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue
- Polly Nelson (born 1952), American attorney and author
- Polly Pattullo, British author, journalist, editor and publisher
- Polly Paulusma (born 1976), English singer-songwriter
- Polly Renton (1970–2010), British documentary film maker
- Polly Riley (1926–2002), American amateur golfer
- Polly Samson (born 1962), English journalist and writer
- Polly Scattergood (born 1986), English singer-songwriter
- Polly Shannon (born 1973), Canadian actress
- Polly Smith (inventor), (born 1949), American costume designer, inventor of the sports bra
- Polly Stenham (born 1986), English playwright
- Polly Stockton (born 1973), British event (horse) rider
- Polly Swann (born 1988), British rower and world champion in the women's coxless pairs
- Polly Sy, Filipino mathematician
- Polly Teale (born 1962), British writer and theater director
- Polly Walker (born 1966), English actress
- Polly Ann Young (1908–1997), American actress, sister of Loretta Young
- Polly Young (1749–1799), English soprano, composer and keyboard player
Nickname
- Caresse Crosby (1891–1970), American art patron, poet, publisher, peace activist and inventor of the first modern brassiere to receive a patent and gain wide acceptance
- Mary Jefferson Eppes (1778–1804), a daughter of Thomas Jefferson, known as Polly during her childhood
- Mary Ann Nichols (1845–1888), a victim of the Whitechapel murders attributed to Jack the Ripper
- Polly Adams (born 1939), English actress
- Polly Adler (1900–1962), Russian-born American madam and author
- Polly Bergen (1930–2014), American actress and singer
- Polly Craus (1923–2006), American fencer
- Polly Hill (horticulturist) (1907–2007), American horticulturist
- Polly Knipp Hill (1900–1990), American artist
- Polly James (born 1941), British actress
- Polly Lada-Mocarski (1902–1997), American bookbinder, inventor and rare book scholar
- Lam Po Kuen (born 1982), also known as Polly Lam, Hong Kong former tennis player
- Polly Marshall (1932–1995), English cricketer
- Polly Moran (1883–1952), American actress and comedian
- Polly Platt (1939–2011), American film producer, production designer and screenwriter
- Polly Powrie (born 1987), New Zealand sailor
- Polly Rosenbaum (1899–2003), American politician and teacher
- Polly Rowles (1914–2001), American actress
- Polly Shackleton (1910–1997), American politician
- Polly Smith (photographer) (1908–1980), American photographer
- Polly Toynbee (born 1946), British journalist and writer
- Polly Lauder Tunney (1907–2008), American philanthropist and socialite, wife of boxer Gene Tunney
- Mary Woffington (1729–1811), Irish actress and socialite
Male
- Bill Perkins (Australian rules footballer) (1920–2009), also known as Polly
- Graham Farmer (1935–2019), Australian rules football player and coach, nicknamed Polly
- Polly Umrigar (1926–2006), Indian cricketer
- Polly Wolfe (1888–1939), American Major League Baseball player
Fictional characters
- Alfred Polly, title character of The History of Mr Polly, a novel by H. G. Wells
- Aunt Polly, in the novels Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Aunt Polly, in the novel Pollyanna
- Aunt Polly, in the TV series Something Special
- Polly Becker, on the BBC soap opera EastEnders (1997–1998)
- Cactus Polly, in American-British children's TV series Oswald
- Polly Chuck, in the anime television series Fables of the Green Forest
- Polly Churchill, a main character in Connie Willis' two-part novel Blackout/All Clear (2010)
- Polly Cooper, in the American TV series Riverdale
- Polly Cronin, from 1991 black comedy movie Drop Dead Fred
- Polly Dawson, in the American TV sitcom Soap
- Polly Duncan, Jim Qwilleran's girlfriend in The Cat Who . . . series by Lillian Jackson Braun
- Polly Emmerson, in British medical drama Casualty
- Polly Geist, in the simulation role-playing visual novel game Monster Prom
- Polly Gray, nee Elizabeth Shelby, a senior member of the principal gangster family featured in the BBC TV series Peaky Blinders
- Polly Maxwell, a character in the American TV miniseries V (1983) and V The Final Battle
- Polly O'Keefe, protagonist or major character in four Madeleine L'Engle novels
- Polly Page, a police constable in British TV series The Bill
- Polly Peachum, in Bertolt Brecht's play The Threepenny Opera
- Polly Perkins, title character of the 19th-century music hall song Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green
- Polly Plantar, a main character in the animated series Amphibia
- Polly Plummer, a main character in C. S. Lewis' novel The Magician's Nephew
- Polly Pocket, a main character in the Polly Pocket series
- Polly Prince, title character in the film Along Came Polly, played by Jennifer Aniston
- Polly Urquhart, character in Howards Way television show
- Polly (Underdog), full name Sweet Polly Purebread, in the American animated TV series Underdog
- Polly Sherman, waitress in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by Connie Booth
- Polly Wright, in the 1997 French-American fantasy drama movie FairyTale: A True Story
- Polly, in the 1935 American drama film Orchids to You
- Polly, the pet parrot of G.I. Joe member Shipwreck from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon series
- Polly (Doctor Who), in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, a companion of the First and Second Doctors
- Polly the Party Fun Fairy, from the book series Rainbow Magic
- Polly, a minor Peanuts character from the special, Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown.
See also
- All pages with titles beginning with Polly
- All pages with titles containing Polly
- Poly (disambiguation)
- Pollyanna (disambiguation)
- Polly Perkins (disambiguation)
- Pretty Polly (disambiguation)
References
- ^ Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Polly". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.