Haley
Feminine · “A clearing where hay is cut”
Haley is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 159,511 girls against 836 boys since 1880. See Haley as a boy name
Haley is an English place name meaning a hay clearing, and it is not the comet — the comet's name is spelled differently, said differently, and belongs to a man whose family pronounced it a third way.
How old is the name Haley?
Haley first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Haley alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 157,000 people named Haley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Haley most popular?
Haley peaked in 2000, reaching #28 nationally. Today it ranks #861, 833 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Haley
The astronomer worked out that three comets recorded at seventy-six-year intervals were one object on a long orbit, predicted its return, and died sixteen years before it arrived — which it did, on schedule, in the winter after Christmas, and was named for him by the people who had waited. His own name has been said three ways for three centuries: rhyming with valley, with daily, and with folly, and the family's own preference is not recorded with any certainty. The name used for children is a different word entirely, and the confusion between them is one of the most persistent in English naming.
Meaning
A clearing where hay is cut
The Old English elements are hay and leah, a clearing — a common pairing in English place names and a completely ordinary description of a field. The comet is Halley, a separate surname with a separate history.
Pronouncing Haley
HAY-lee
Two syllables, stress at the front. The comet's name is usually said HAL-ee, with a short first vowel.
Nicknames for Haley
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
- 1890
- Most girls named
- 20009,069 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #28reached in 2000
- Change vs 2023
- −26.3%314 in 2025, from 426
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.
Haley in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Haleys among us
people named Haley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 5,119 born in 2025 was named Haley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Haley
- #861
- Haley on the 2025 chart
- #625
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Haley went to 314 girls in 2025, but Halley is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 357, which makes it the 625th most-given girls’ name of the year — 236 places above the chart.
- Haley314
- Halley43
About 1 girl in 4,502 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 5,119 for Haley 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 Ann test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Haley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ann climbed just as high around 1936, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ann's path sketches the road Haley is walking now.
Haley is coming down from a big peak (#28 in 2000). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Haley is headed
Haley is easing off slowly — about 23% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High 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.
Haley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Haley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and entirely pleasant.
- It is read correctly on sight by everybody.
- It works for either child, which the record confirms.
- Hayley, Hailey and Haleigh are all in heavy use and hers will be written as one of them.
- The comet will be offered as an origin and is a different name.
- It has been very well used, so she may not be the only one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Haley
Feminine · #861 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Haleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 157,000 people named Haley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Haley?
- Haley is the most-used spelling in US records — 314 of the 357 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Halley.
- How popular is the name Haley in 2025?
- Haley ranks #861 among US girl names in 2025, with 314 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Haley?
- About 1 in every 5,119 US girls born in 2025 was named Haley — 314 in all.
- Will my child share the name Haley with classmates?
- Haley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Haley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Arisbeth#862 · Deborah#862 · Eleanora#862 · Jemma#862 · Mercy#862 · Ayleen#862 · Soraya#862 · Madilynn#859
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Haley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Haley and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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