Finlay

What Finlay means

Means “fair warrior/hero”

Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Fionnlagh (“fair warrior/hero”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Finlay” (revision 92414543), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Finlay?

US: Falling: down from #2145 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #123 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2015, when 64 boys got the name (#2145 that year). First in the US records in 1918.

How common

• About 1 in 34,162 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 928 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 91 baby boys 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 NY (0.07 per 1,000 boys), CA (0.04 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Finlay is #2604 in the US and #175 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 86.2% of US babies named Finlay were boys.

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

• Finley1,017 US · 1,733 E&W
• Finnley340 US · 79 E&W
• Finlee24 US · 4 E&W
• Finnly6 US
• Finlo0 US · 4 E&W
• Finnlay0 US · 4 E&W
• Fynley0 US · 3 E&W

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 Finlay

Boys

• Carson#124“rock”^*
• Finnegan#526“descendant of Fionnagán”^*
• Camden#205“enclosure + valley”^*
• Carter#45“son of Arthur”^*
• Cooper#27Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #77 in 2015, #27 in 2025
• Jackson#36Editor’s note Down from #17 in 2015 to #36 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 260 US boys in the 2025 records

For a sister

• Emersyn#138Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #138 vs #3,705 in 2025
• Avery#37Editor’s note Used for both: 82% of US babies named Avery in 2025 were girls
• Karsyn#718Editor’s note Used for both: 70% of US babies named Karsyn in 2025 were girls
• Rylee#137Variant of Riley, meaning “rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Piper#155Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #67 in 2015, #155 in 2025
• Campbell#617“crooked + mouth”^*

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 Finlay’s. Rank is US 2025.