Finlee
Feminine · “fair warrior”
Finlee is given to both — 1,077 girls and 329 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Finlee is Finlay respelled, and the Gaelic behind it is a fair-haired warrior — or a fair calf, depending on which reading of the second element you take, and Gaelic scholars have not agreed.
How old is the name Finlee?
Finlee first appears in US birth records in 2006 — 19 years ago. The typical Finlee is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,100 people named Finlee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Finlee most popular?
Finlee peaked in 2018, reaching #2026 nationally. Today it ranks #3067, 1,041 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Where it comes from
From Fionnlagh to Finlee
The story of Finlee
Fionn is one of the most productive elements in Gaelic naming — it opens Fionnlagh, Fionnbharr and the hero Fionn mac Cumhaill himself — and it means bright as much as fair. Fionnlagh anglicized as Finlay and Findlay, became a Scottish surname, and reached America. Its use as a girls' first name is recent and American, and the respellings arrived immediately: Finley, Finlee, Finlay, Finnley, with the -ee forms falling to daughters and the -ay forms staying with sons.
Meaningscholars disagree
fair warrior — or fair calf
Scottish Gaelic Fionnlagh joins fionn, 'fair, white, bright', to a second element read either as laogh, 'a calf', or as a word for a warrior or hero. The calf reading sounds odd in English and is not an insult in Gaelic, where young animals were used freely in praise-names. Neither reading has carried, and fionn is certain in both.
How the name formed
- Fionnlagh
- Finlay
- Finlee
Related forms: Fionnlagh · Finlay · Finley
Pronouncing Finlee
FIN-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said exactly as Finley and Finlay; the -ee ending changes the look and nothing you can hear.
Nicknames for Finlee
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
- 2006
- Most girls named
- 201896 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2026reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- +8.2%53 in 2025, from 49
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.
Finlee in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Fionnlagh in Scottish Gaelic — related form
- Finlay in English — spelling variant
- Finley in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Utah.
Finlees among us
people named Finlee are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 30,326 born in 2025 was named Finlee
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Finlee
- #3067
- Finlee on the 2025 chart
- #894
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Finlee went to 53 girls in 2025, but Fynlee is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 66, which makes it the 894th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,173 places above the chart.
- Finlee53
- Fynlee13
About 1 girl in 24,353 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 30,326 for Finlee itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Azia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Finlee's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Azia climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Azia's path sketches the road Finlee is walking now.
Finlee 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
Where Finlee is headed
Finlee is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Finlee beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Finlee in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Finn is a ready short form and a very well-established name in its own right.
- A documented Gaelic origin with a genuinely old element at the front.
- Two syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Finley, Finlay, Finlee and Finnley are all in use and none is standard.
- It is given to sons as well as daughters, so it gives nothing away on paper.
- The second element of the Gaelic is genuinely argued between a warrior and a calf.
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What they receive
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Finlee
Feminine · #3067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Finlees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Finlee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Finlee?
- Finlee is the most-used spelling in US records — 53 of the 66 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Fynlee.
- How popular is the name Finlee in 2025?
- Finlee ranks #3067 among US girl names in 2025, with 53 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Finlee?
- About 1 in every 30,326 US girls born in 2025 was named Finlee — 53 in all.
- Will my child share the name Finlee with classmates?
- Finlee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Finlee
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Xitlaly#3067 · Melodi#3067 · Evany#3067 · Stacey#3067 · Mahnoor#3067 · Fabiola#3067 · Anissa#3067 · Danni#3067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Finlee? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Finlee and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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