Kaleigha
Feminine
Kaleigha adds a final a to Kaleigh, which is already one of eight spellings of a sound that entered English naming after a 1985 song.
How old is the name Kaleigha?
Kaleigha first appears in US birth records in 1996 — 29 years ago. The typical Kaleigha is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Kaleigha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kaleigha most popular?
Kaleigha peaked in 2010, reaching #2670 nationally. Today it ranks #4067, 1,397 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kaleigha
Ours, offered as ours. This name is at the far end of a chain of small decisions: Kay and Leigh joined, then respelled as Kayleigh, then simplified to Kaleigh, then extended again with an a. Each step was a family making the name slightly more theirs. The result is nine letters carrying two syllables and no documented meaning, which is a fair description of a great deal of modern naming and not a criticism of it.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established. The Kayleigh sound is generally traced to a British song of 1985 or to an assembly of Kay and Leigh; the Irish surname Ó Caollaidhe, on caol, narrow, is a further possibility. The final a is a modern addition.
Pronouncing Kaleigha
kuh-LAY-ah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Some families say KAY-lee-ah.
Nicknames for Kaleigha
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
- 1996
- Most girls named
- 201067 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2670reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- +20.7%35 in 2025, from 29
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.
Kaleigha in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kayleigh in English — spelling variant
- Kaleigh in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Texas, North Carolina.
Kaleighas among us
people named Kaleigha are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 45,922 born in 2025 was named Kaleigha
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kaleigha
- #4067
- Kaleigha on the 2025 chart
- #917
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kaleigha went to 35 girls in 2025, but Caleigha is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 43, which makes it the 917th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,150 places above the chart.
- Kaleigha35
- Caleigha8
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 45,922 for Kaleigha 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 Sakina test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kaleigha's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sakina climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sakina's path sketches the road Kaleigha is walking now.
Kaleigha 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 Kaleigha is headed
Kaleigha is easing off slowly — about 17% 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.
Kaleigha beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kaleigha in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kay is a complete short form with its own American history.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- Rare in the records, so it stays distinct on a class list.
- Nine letters for two or three syllables is a great deal for early handwriting.
- The stress and syllable count are both unsettled.
- She will spell it aloud for strangers all her life.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kaleigha
Feminine · #4067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaleighas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Kaleigha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kaleigha?
- Kaleigha is the most-used spelling in US records — 35 of the 43 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Caleigha.
- How popular is the name Kaleigha in 2025?
- Kaleigha ranks #4067 among US girl names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kaleigha?
- About 1 in every 45,922 US girls born in 2025 was named Kaleigha — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kaleigha with classmates?
- Kaleigha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kaleigha
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eli#4067 · Peace#4067 · Medina#4067 · Darlin#4067 · Anja#4067 · Sparrow#4067 · Liani#4067 · Salina#4067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kaleigha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kaleigha and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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