Paizley
Feminine
Paizley is a respelling of Paisley, a Scottish town whose pattern of teardrop shapes came from Persia by way of Kashmir and then took the town's name.
How old is the name Paizley?
Paizley first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Paizley is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,400 people named Paizley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Paizley most popular?
Paizley peaked in 2013, reaching #1754 nationally. Today it ranks #3712, 1,958 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Paizley
Ours, offered as ours. The design is the interesting part. The curved teardrop is an old Persian motif called boteh, woven into Kashmir shawls that reached Britain in the eighteenth century and became enormously fashionable. Paisley's mills wove cheap imitations at such scale that the town's name attached to the pattern permanently — so a Persian design carries a Scottish town's name in every language that has borrowed it. The town's own name means nobody quite knows what.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The town's own name is disputed — a derivation from Latin basilica, a church, is most often proposed, and a Brittonic origin has also been argued. The pattern is Persian and Kashmiri in origin and took the name only because Paisley mills wove the imitations.
Pronouncing Paizley
PAYZ-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. Paizley and Paisley are said identically.
Nicknames for Paizley
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
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 2013117 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1754reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- −14.9%40 in 2025, from 47
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.
Paizley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Paisley in English — spelling variant
- Paisley in Scots — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, Ohio.
Paizleys among us
people named Paizley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 40,182 born in 2025 was named Paizley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Paizley
- #3712
- Paizley on the 2025 chart
- #77
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Paizley went to 40 girls in 2025, but Paisley is the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 3,563, which makes it the 77th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,635 places above the chart.
- Paisley3,508
- Paizley40
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 451 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 40,182 for Paizley 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 Rosamaria test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Paizley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rosamaria climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rosamaria's path sketches the road Paizley is walking now.
Paizley 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 Paizley is headed
Paizley is easing off slowly — about 20% 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.
Paizley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Paizley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real town and a genuinely well-traveled pattern behind the name.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Lee is a plain short form that carries into adult life.
- Paisley is the standard spelling and will be written for her constantly.
- The pattern association is strong and specific.
- The town's own name has no settled meaning.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Paizley
Feminine · #3712 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Paizleys 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 Paizley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Paizley?
- Paizley is one of 2 recorded spellings. Paisley is the more common one — 3,508 births in 2025 against 40 for Paizley.
- How popular is the name Paizley in 2025?
- Paizley ranks #3712 among US girl names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Paizley?
- About 1 in every 40,182 US girls born in 2025 was named Paizley — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Paizley with classmates?
- Paizley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Paizley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Monet#3712 · Barrett#3712 · October#3712 · Aubrianna#3712 · Mishka#3712 · Berkleigh#3712 · Zailey#3712 · Ora#3712
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Paizley? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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