Given name & surname
Telly
“the wisest man”
Telly is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “the wisest man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “the wisest man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1967. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Telly through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,609
- 1,527 boys · 82 girls
- Most popular year
- 1974
- 312 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −62%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 294 in 1974. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,333 as a first name in 2020; 292 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Telly’s family of names
Telly has a related form in Tellie. Telly has a related form in Tellea. Telly has a related form in Tellee.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Telly
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Telly, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Tertius
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Stylianos
“a stylish man”
>99% boys
Dinos
“one who is steadfast; firm”
>99% boys
Spiridon
“one who transports goods; a basket”
>99% boys
Orpheus
Orpheus is a masculine given name, possibly from Ancient Greek. It is used in English and Cebuano.
>99% boys
Artemas
“a follower of the goddess Artemis”
>99% boys