Kaley
Feminine · “slender”
Kaley is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 13,682 girls against 25 boys since 1880.
Kaley sits at a junction of several names: the Irish surname Ó Caollaidhe, the English Kayleigh from a 1985 song, and the Ka- family of American naming.
How old is the name Kaley?
Kaley first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Kaley alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 13,500 people named Kaley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kaley most popular?
Kaley peaked in 1993, reaching #457 nationally. Today it ranks #3832, 3,375 places below that high. See the whole 1993 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kaley
Ours, offered as ours. The 1985 song is genuinely the most documented moment in this name's history: it reached number two in Britain and the name entered the British records within a year, which is about as clear a cause as name history ever offers. Behind it, the Irish caol is real and old — the word for narrow that names Scottish and Irish straits. Kaley is one of at least eight live spellings of the sound.
Meaningscholars disagree
slender, from a word for narrow
The Irish surname Ó Caollaidhe is built on caol, slender or narrow — the same word that gives Kyle its straits. Kayleigh was popularized by a British song of 1985 and may be an independent assembly of Kay and Leigh. Neither line is settled for this spelling.
Pronouncing Kaley
KAY-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. Every spelling of the name sounds the same.
Nicknames for Kaley
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 2003578 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #457reached in 1993
- Change vs 2024
- −40.6%38 in 2025, from 64
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.
Kaley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kayleigh in English — spelling variant
- Ó Caollaidhe in Irish — related form
- Kaylee in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Kaleys among us
people named Kaley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 42,297 born in 2025 was named Kaley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kaley
- #3832
- Kaley on the 2025 chart
- #890
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kaley went to 38 girls in 2025, but Kalei, Caley and Calley and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 70, which makes it the 890th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,942 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 22,961 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 42,297 for Kaley 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 Susana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kaley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Susana climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Susana's path sketches the road Kaley is walking now.
Kaley 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 Kaley is headed
Kaley is easing off slowly — about 18% 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.
Kaley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kaley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kay and Lee are both complete names that stand on their own.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Kaylee, Kayleigh, Kaley, Kaleigh and Caylee are all live and she will recite hers.
- The sound is very widely used, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- There is no settled meaning for this spelling.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kaley
Feminine · #3832 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 13,500 people named Kaley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kaley?
- Kaley is the most-used spelling in US records — 38 of the 70 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kalei, Caley, Calley and Kalley.
- How popular is the name Kaley in 2025?
- Kaley ranks #3832 among US girl names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kaley?
- About 1 in every 42,297 US girls born in 2025 was named Kaley — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kaley with classmates?
- Kaley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kaley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nohemi#3832 · Yadira#3832 · Quincey#3832 · Yohanna#3832 · Aurielle#3832 · Anslee#3832 · Anagha#3832 · Corrine#3832
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kaley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kaley and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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