Quetzaly
Feminine · “quetzal feather”
Quetzaly comes from the quetzal, the Central American bird whose tail feathers were worth more than gold to the Aztecs.
How old is the name Quetzaly?
Quetzaly first appears in US birth records in 2001 — 24 years ago. The typical Quetzaly is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Quetzaly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Quetzaly most popular?
Quetzaly peaked in 2023, reaching #2466 nationally. Today it ranks #4546, 2,080 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From quetzalli to Quetzaly
The story of Quetzaly
Quetzal feathers were a tribute item across Mesoamerica and killing the bird was reportedly a capital offense — the feathers were plucked and the bird released, because a single tail plume takes years to grow. Moctezuma's headdress, now in Vienna, is made of hundreds of them. The bird is Guatemala's national symbol and its currency. Quetzaly is a modern Mexican given name built on the word.
Meaning
quetzal feather; precious
From Nahuatl quetzalli, the long green tail feather of the resplendent quetzal, and by extension anything precious or beautiful. The same element opens Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent.
How the name formed
- quetzalli
- Quetzaly
Related forms: Quetzalli · Quetzali
Pronouncing Quetzaly
ket-SAH-lee
Three syllables with the stress in the middle; the qu is a plain k in Nahuatl and Spanish.
Nicknames for Quetzaly
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
- 2001
- Most girls named
- 202372 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2466reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −41.2%30 in 2025, from 51
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.
Quetzaly in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Quetzalli in Nahuatl — related form
- Quetzali in Spanish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Illinois.
Quetzalys among us
people named Quetzaly are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 53,576 born in 2025 was named Quetzaly
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Quetzaly
- #4546
- Quetzaly on the 2025 chart
- #837
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Quetzaly went to 30 girls in 2025, but Quetzalli and Quetzali are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 123, which makes it the 837th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,709 places above the chart.
- Quetzalli49
- Quetzali44
- Quetzaly30
About 1 girl in 13,067 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 53,576 for Quetzaly 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 Kyia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Quetzaly's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kyia climbed just as high around 2002, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kyia's path sketches the road Quetzaly is walking now.
Quetzaly 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 Quetzaly is headed
Quetzaly looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 43% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Quetzaly beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Quetzaly in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning tied to a spectacular real bird and a real history.
- One of relatively few widely used names of Nahuatl origin.
- Every letter is sounded, so Spanish speakers read it correctly at once.
- English readers see qu and say kw, which is wrong.
- Eight letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
- It is unfamiliar outside Mexican communities and will be spelled out.
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What they receive
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Quetzaly
Feminine · #4546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Quetzalys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Quetzaly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Quetzaly?
- Quetzaly is one of 3 recorded spellings. Quetzalli is the more common one — 49 births in 2025 against 30 for Quetzaly.
- How popular is the name Quetzaly in 2025?
- Quetzaly ranks #4546 among US girl names in 2025, with 30 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Quetzaly?
- About 1 in every 53,576 US girls born in 2025 was named Quetzaly — 30 in all.
- Will my child share the name Quetzaly with classmates?
- Quetzaly will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Quetzaly
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Amie#4546 · Rashell#4546 · Renatta#4546 · Raisa#4546 · Amena#4546 · Aryn#4546 · Nadiya#4546 · Jeanne#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Quetzaly? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Quetzaly and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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