Bailey
Masculine · Old French roots · “bailiff”
Bailey is given to both — 21,738 boys and 110,806 girls since 1880. See Bailey as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Bailey began as an English surname carried by court officials and by families living beside the walled yard of a castle — the bailey itself, that stretch of ground inside the outer wall. London's Old Bailey, the criminal court, takes its name from exactly that feature of the old city wall. Said aloud it falls in two easy beats, the same open ending that Riley and Finley share.
How old is the name Bailey?
Bailey was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Bailey alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 20,000 people named Bailey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bailey most popular?
Bailey peaked in 1997, reaching #151 nationally. Today it ranks #1358, 1,207 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Where it comes from
From baille / bailli (Old French) to Bailey
The story of Bailey
The word came into English from Norman French after the Conquest, in both its senses — the official and the walled enclosure — and by the later Middle Ages it had settled into English family names. As a surname it spread widely through England and Ireland, and from there across the Atlantic, where American parents did what they have long done with British surnames: moved it to the front of the name. It appeared on US birth records early in the twentieth century and grew slowly for decades before its real rise, arriving on girls and boys alike. The surname route is the only route: there is no separate men's Bailey and women's Bailey, just one name that travels both ways, with the great majority of American children given it being girls.
Meaningscholars disagree
'bailiff, steward' or 'outer castle wall, enclosure'
Two solid readings sit behind the surname. One is occupational: Middle English baili, from Old French bailli, a bailiff or steward — a man who managed an estate or represented a lord. The other is topographic: the bailey, the enclosed courtyard between a castle's keep and its outer wall, from Old French baille. A third, narrower source is English place names such as Bailey in Lancashire. Any given family line could descend from any of them.
How the name formed
- baille / bailliOld French
- bailiMiddle English
- BaileyEnglish surname
- Baileygiven name
Related forms: Baillie · Bailly · Bailee · Baylee
Pronouncing Bailey
BAY-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The main spelling gives the sound away, so strangers rarely mispronounce it — even if they hesitate over how it is spelled.
Nicknames for Bailey
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19982,239 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #151reached in 1997
- Change vs 2022
- +16.0%138 in 2025, from 119
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bailey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Baillie in Scots English — spelling variant
- Bailly in French — related form
- Bailee in English — spelling variant
- Baylee in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Georgia.
Baileys among us
people named Bailey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 12,377 born in 2025 was named Bailey
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Donnie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bailey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Donnie climbed just as high around 1950, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Donnie's path sketches the road Bailey is walking now.
Bailey is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Bailey is headed
Bailey looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 17% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Bailey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bailey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled as it sounds: almost no one reads BAY-lee wrong on first sight.
- Over a century on American birth records, with bearers now spanning several generations — recognizable to anyone, at any age.
- Works for a girl or a boy from the same surname root, with no separate history to explain.
- Familiar without being crowded — a child is unlikely to share it with anyone in their year.
- Short forms already in real use, so there is a nickname without inventing one.
- Bailee, Baylee, Bayleigh and Baileigh all exist, so the question 'how do you spell that?' will follow the name through school, work and paperwork.
- Baileys Irish Cream is a household brand, and Bailey is a very popular dog name in the US. Neither is a serious problem, but expect the occasional joke.
- In American records the spelling reads overwhelmingly female. A boy named Bailey may be assumed a girl on forms and rosters until he is met in person.
- It has stepped back from its high point, which means most people who share the name are now adults rather than children — a name a child will hear about themselves more than around themselves.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Bailey to the vote.
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What they receive
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Bailey
Masculine · Old French roots · #1358 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Baileys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 20,000 people named Bailey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bailey in 2025?
- Bailey ranks #1358 among US boy names in 2025, with 138 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bailey?
- About 1 in every 12,377 US boys born in 2025 was named Bailey — 138 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bailey with classmates?
- Bailey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bailey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Taylen#1358 · Shia#1358 · Copeland#1358 · Davian#1362 · Vince#1362 · Warner#1362 · Bernard#1362 · Clifford#1352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bailey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Bailey and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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