Holly in Chinese
How to write Holly in Chinese, how to say it, and real Chinese names picked for it.
Holly, written by sound
霍莉
Huòlì
- 霍huò
- 莉lì“jasmine”
This is how Holly is written by sound: in the news, on maps and in translated books. Each character is there for its sound, so their meanings don't add up to anything.
But it isn't a Chinese name. Chinese parents choose a name for what it means, like the ones below.
Real Chinese names for Holly
None of these sounds quite like Holly, but each one is a real name Chinese parents give, with a meaning of its own. Tap the buttons to hear a character, watch it written, or write it yourself.
Classic name
美莉Měilì
beautiful jasmine
měi
beautiful
羊sheep大big
Commonly explained as a big sheep, once the finest thing you could have: good, and so beautiful.
lì
jasmine
艹plantmeaning利lìsound
利 is said lì too.
Poetic name
令仪Lìngyí
fine bearing
lìng
fine, good
yí
bearing, manner
Poetic name
静好Jìnghǎo
quiet happiness
jìng
quiet, serene
hǎo
good
Stroke order follows the mainland China standard; a few characters are written differently in Taiwan.
Get your own Chinese name
Holly, get eight real names in the style you like (classic, poetic, wuxia…) and pick the one that feels like you. It takes a minute.
How Chinese names work
The family name comes first, and it is almost always one character: 王 Wáng, 李 Lǐ, 林 Lín. A few have two, like 欧阳 Ōuyáng.
The given name follows: one or two characters, chosen for what they mean. A virtue, a flower, a wish from the parents.
So with a family name in front, 美莉 becomes a full name such as 林美莉 (Lín Měilì).
About the name Holly
In the US, Holly was the 120th most popular girls’ name of the 1990s. In England and Wales it was number 23 in 1996 and is number 169 in 2025.
Sources: US Social Security Administration, Office for National Statistics (UK).