"Holly" (variants "Hollie, Holley") was first used as a feminine given name in the 20th century, as a "botanical" name given to girls, in reference to, or at least secondarily associated with, the holly tree.While the feminine name is on record in the United States since the 1930s, its surge in popularity was due to "Holly Golightly", the socialite protagonist in Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1958), which was made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1961.