Head to head · Girls' names
Faith vs Kaylee
#254 vs #255 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Faith is a whisker ahead (#254 vs #255 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Faith leads 3 measures of 6; Kaylee leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Faith #766, Kaylee — — Faith higher
- 1890s: Faith #636, Kaylee — — Faith higher
- 1900s: Faith #671, Kaylee — — Faith higher
- 1910s: Faith #593, Kaylee — — Faith higher
- 1920s: Faith #479, Kaylee — — Faith higher
- 1930s: Faith #360, Kaylee — — Faith higher
- 1940s: Faith #340, Kaylee #4691 — Faith higher
- 1950s: Faith #330, Kaylee #5301 — Faith higher
- 1960s: Faith #357, Kaylee #4719 — Faith higher
- 1970s: Faith #356, Kaylee #3809 — Faith higher
- 1980s: Faith #359, Kaylee #1159 — Faith higher
- 1990s: Faith #189, Kaylee #143 — Kaylee higher
- 2000s: Faith #62, Kaylee #47 — Kaylee higher
- 2010s: Faith #94, Kaylee #63 — Kaylee higher
- 2020s: Faith #204, Kaylee #179 — Kaylee higher
Faith stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Kaylee has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Faith | Kaylee |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #766 | — |
| 1890s | #636 | — |
| 1900s | #671 | — |
| 1910s | #593 | — |
| 1920s | #479 | — |
| 1930s | #360 | — |
| 1940s | #340 | #4691 |
| 1950s | #330 | #5301 |
| 1960s | #357 | #4719 |
| 1970s | #356 | #3809 |
| 1980s | #359 | #1159 |
| 1990s | #189 | #143 |
| 2000s | #62 | #47 |
| 2010s | #94 | #63 |
| 2020s | #204 | #179 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Faith
faith, trust, belief
From Latin fides, 'trust', by way of Old French and Middle English.
Fides → Foy → feith → Faith
How it traveled
The word came into English from Old French feid, itself from Latin fides, 'trust'. In Roman religion Fides was the personified virtue of good faith, and the same root produced the name of Saint Faith — Sainte Foy — a martyr of Agen honored at the abbey of Conques, a major stop on the medieval pilgrim roads.
Kaylee
Not established
Two serious readings compete. The first treats it as a compound: Kay (a short form of Katherine) plus the -lee or -leigh ending borrowed from English surnames, which is how Marillion's Fish described inventing the spelling Kayleigh — from the names Kay and Leigh. The second reads it as an English respelling of Irish names and surnames in the Caol- family, where the element caol means slender, and which reach English as Keeley and Keelin. Neither reading has won, and the name is used widely by parents who hold to one, the other, or neither.
How it traveled
Kaylee is a modern English-language name, and unlike most entries in a book like this it has no ancient line behind it. Its parts are old — Kay has stood alone as a woman's name for well over a century, and -lee and -leigh come from English place-name surnames meaning a clearing or meadow — but the joining of them is recent.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Faith
FAYTH
One syllable, exactly as the English word. The same across American and British English, and it survives being said quickly.
- Faye — Informal short form, though it also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Faithy — Affectionate family form, mostly used with young children.
- Fifi — Playful household nickname; rare, and almost never used outside the family.
Kaylee
KAY-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Kaylee, Kayleigh and Kaylie are all said identically, which is why the spellings get confused with one another.
- Kay — The most-used short form, and a full given name in its own right, still well represented among older generations.
- Kay-Kay — Informal and mostly used within families and among children.
- Lee — Occasional, drawn from the second half; also a stand-alone name given to both boys and girls.
- Kaye — A spelling of the same short form, more often seen as a middle name.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Faith if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesFaith is 1 syllable to Kaylee's 2
- a long American recordFaith was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Kaylee if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKaylee is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itKaylee runs 2 syllables, Faith 1
- a newer arrivalKaylee entered the US charts in 1943
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Faith
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation follow each other perfectly — anyone who hears it can write it, and anyone who reads it can say it.
- In continuous English use since the Reformation era, so it has never needed a revival to sound normal.
- The same Latin root gives Fe in Spanish and Portuguese, widely used in Spain, Latin America and the Philippines.
To consider
- It is also a common English word, and in most American contexts a religious one. Some people will read it as a statement about the family's beliefs, which may or may not be what you want.
- Very short, with no long formal version to grow into and no real nickname to retreat to — a Faith is Faith at three and at fifty.
- Its bearers cluster heavily in one young-adult generation, so among adults it can read as belonging to a particular cohort, even while it is uncommon in classrooms now.
Kaylee
Strengths
- Reads exactly as it sounds to any English speaker — no pronunciation coaching needed, at school or over the phone.
- Both halves work as names on their own: Kay has a long independent record, and Lee is used for boys and girls alike.
- In use across the United States, Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands, so it travels through English-speaking and Dutch-speaking countries without adjustment.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating for life. Kayleigh, Kaylie, Kaleigh, Caylee and Kailey are all in circulation, and people who hear the name have no way of guessing which one you mean.
- Most people carrying this name today are teenagers and young adults, which gives it a fairly specific generational sound — closer to a young woman's name than a baby's, at least for now.
- No settled meaning to hand a curious child. What you can tell them is real and quite interesting: the name was assembled in living memory rather than inherited.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Faith and Kaylee in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Faith and Kaylee?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Faith and Kaylee — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Faith or Kaylee — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Faith or Kaylee?
- Faith, in 2025: Faith ranked #254 with 1,212 babies; Kaylee ranked #255 with 1,205 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Faith or Kaylee?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Faith moved down 120 places; Kaylee moved down 138 places.
- Which is the older name, Faith or Kaylee?
- Faith was already in use when US records began in 1880; Kaylee entered the US charts in 1943. On the American record, Faith is the older name.
- How many people are named Faith and Kaylee?
- About 137,000 people named Faith are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 139,000 people named Kaylee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Faiths or Kaylees in the classroom?
- Faith will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kaylee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Faith, Kaylee and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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