Bailey

What Bailey means

Means “outer castle wall”

(English topographic surname): See bailey (“outer castle wall”)

Source: Wiktionary, “Bailey” (revision 94534707), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Bailey?

US: Falling: down from #107 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #722 in 2015, #705 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1998, when 5,198 girls got the name (#60 that year). First in the US records in 1916.

How common

• About 1 in 1,112 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,871 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,556 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (7.19 per 1,000 girls), AK (3.02 per 1,000 girls), NH (2.63 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Bailey is #208 in the US and #705 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 91.3% of US babies named Bailey were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Baylee248 US
• Bailee227 US · 7 E&W
• Baila146 US
• Bayley31 US · 6 E&W
• Billy14 US
• Baily8 US
• Beily7 US
• Baylei6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Bailey

Girls

• Clare#924“bright, shining, clear”^*
• Mackenzie#228“son, descendant + of Coinneach”^*
• Cassidy#541“descendant of Caiside”^*
• Madison#40Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1970, with 5 babies
• Mckenzie#576Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 2,528 babies; 517 in 2025
• Sydney#348Variant of Sidney, meaning “wide + island”^*

For a brother

• Grant#228“big, large”^*
• Hunter#130From the word “hunter”^*
• Cole#182“coal, coal-black”^*
• Keaton#769possibly “hedge, enclosure + farmstead, settlement”^*
• Drake#827“dragon”^*
• Conner#864Variant of Connor, meaning “lover of hounds”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Bailey’s. Rank is US 2025.