Meaning & Origin
A diminutive of the female given name Sarah, also used as a formal given name.
Sally is a girl's and boy's baby name of Hebrew origin, a traditional English diminutive of Sarah — from the Hebrew Sara meaning "princess" or "noblewoman." Sally developed as a rhyming diminutive (Sara → Sairy → Sally) and became a standalone given name in the English-speaking world.
Sally ranked in the U.S. top 30 girls' names in the late 1930s and 1940s. Sally Field's two Academy Award wins and the phrase "You like me, you really like me!" gave it an image of warmth and earnestness. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, adds a dimension of pioneering courage that suits the name's cheerful directness perfectly.