Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). 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 (), American violinist
  • Polly Brown (born 1947), English singer
  • Polly Campion, American politician
  • 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 Guerin (died 2021), American writer
  • Polly Harrar, British women's rights activist
  • Polly Hill (economist) (1914–2005), British economic historian
  • Polly Holliday (1937–2025), American actress
  • Polly Horvath (born 1957), Canadian author
  • Polly Irungu, Kenyan-American photographer and journalist
  • 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 (1924–2024), 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
  • Pollie Hirst Simpson (1871–1947), English sportswoman, charity organiser and the first agricultural adviser to the National Federation of Women's Institutes (WI)
  • 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

  • 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 Elwes (1928–1987), British television presenter and actress
  • 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
  • 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
  • Polly Palfrey Woodrow (1906–1997), American tennis player

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
  • Cactus Polly, in the American-British children's TV series Oswald
  • Polly, a character in the Jaws movie franchise
  • Polly, a minor Peanuts character from the special Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
  • Polly Becker, on the BBC soap opera EastEnders (1997–1998)
  • 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... mystery book 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, née 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 Reed, a character in the 1981 American satirical black comedy movie S.O.B.
  • Polly Urquhart, character in the television show Howards' Way
  • 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 parrot, a character in the 2001 American supernatural parody movie Scary Movie 2
  • 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

See also

  • Polly (disambiguation)
  • Poly (disambiguation)
  • Pollyanna (disambiguation)
  • Polly Perkins (disambiguation)
  • Pretty Polly (disambiguation)

References