Polly

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.

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 Guerin (died 2021), American writer
 * 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.