Baily
Feminine · “Old French bailli”
Baily is given to both — 1,407 girls and 417 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
A bailey is the courtyard inside a castle wall. Motte-and-bailey castles have a mound and an enclosure, and the Old Bailey in London is named after the bailey of the city wall it stood beside.
How old is the name Baily?
Baily first appears in US birth records in 1984 — 41 years ago. The typical Baily alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 1,400 people named Baily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Baily most popular?
Baily peaked in 1997, reaching #1671 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 9,246 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From baille to Baily
The story of Baily
The Norman castle was built in two parts: a raised mound with a tower on it, the motte, and an enclosed yard below, the bailey, where the hall, stables and workshops stood. The word comes from Old French and is related to the modern bail in the sense of a barrier. London's Old Bailey is the street that ran along the bailey of the Roman and medieval city wall, and the court took the street's name. The surname could come from living by such an enclosure or from holding the office of bailiff, and both routes were productive. The American given name comes from the surname, and rose sharply for girls in the 1990s, at which point the shortened spellings appeared.
Meaningscholars disagree
Old French bailli, a bailiff, or baille, an enclosure
Bailey is either an occupational surname from bailiff, an officer of a court or estate, or a topographic one from the bailey, the outer wall or courtyard of a castle. Both are Norman French and both are attested. Baily is a shortened American spelling; the peak is 1997.
How the name formed
- baille
- Bailey
- Baily
Related forms: Bailey · Bayley
Pronouncing Baily
BAY-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Bailey, Baily and Bayley are homophones.
Nicknames for Baily
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
- 1984
- Most girls named
- 199794 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1671reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- −42.9%8 in 2025, from 14
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.
Baily in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bailey in English — spelling variant
- Bayley in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Bailys among us
people named Baily are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Baily
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 Bunnie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Baily's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Bunnie climbed just as high around 1953, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Bunnie's path sketches the road Baily is walking now.
Baily sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Baily beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Baily in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Bay works as a short form and is a current name.
- Both possible meanings are documented and concrete.
- Two syllables with a firm opening.
- Bailey is the standard spelling by a wide margin.
- The name is used for both sexes.
- The 1997 peak dates this form.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Baily to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Baily? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Baily
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bailys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Baily are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Baily in 2025?
- Baily ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Baily?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Baily — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Baily with classmates?
- Baily will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Baily
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Baily? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Baily and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle