Sally
SAL-ee
A lively English diminutive of Sarah, carrying the sense of “princess” and, by extension, noblewoman.
Meaning
Sally is an English pet form of Sarah. In the excerpted 19th-century sources, Sarah is glossed as “princess,” and Sally is described as its contraction. So the name’s core etymological sense is tied to the Hebrew name Sarah and its traditional meaning of a royal or noble woman.
Origin
EnglishHebrewfeminine
Fun fact
One excerpt notes that Sally was also used as an equivalent for several Irish names, showing how nickname-forms could travel well beyond their original source name.
Confidence: mixed. Sources: History of Christian Names, Praenomina; or, the etymology of the principal Christian names of Great Britain and Ireland.