How rare is the name Bailey?

111,403 people in the United States have the first name Bailey, about 1 in 2,711. It ranks #506 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BAILEY

#506

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
111,403
About
1 in 2,711
This common or more
58.7%
Who bears it

Of the 111,403 people named Bailey, 82.2% reported their origin as White, 6% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.9% as two or more races. 84.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Bailey peaked in 1998, when 7,437 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1998
Births that year
7,437
In 2025*
1,584 ▼79%
Recorded as
mostly female

At least 132,544 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Bailey by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2000s, when it ranked #174. The largest share of babies named Bailey, 57.6%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#1,42178
1890s#1,490116
1900s#1,817111
1910s#2,097301
1920s#2,258396
1930s#2,188367
1940s#2,705301
1950s#3,229292
1960s#4,400197
1970s#5,401197
1980s#8624,559
1990s#17841,547
2000s#17443,773
2010s#23829,659
2020s#38710,650
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.5%
Silent Generation 1928–450.5%
Baby boom 1946–640.4%
Generation X 1965–800.3%
Millennials 1981–9618.3%
Generation Z 1997–1257.6%
2013 and later22.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Bailey is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Bailey has been most common in Utah (2.2×), Idaho (2.2×), and Nevada (2.1×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.12×).

127,800 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Bailey

#504 Marissa · 111,567#505 Melvin · 111,421#507 Alison · 111,220#508 Autumn · 110,887

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Bailey, most common first.

#2,092 Bailee · 12,886#6,769 Bayley · 2,331#7,184 Baily · 2,146#19,654 Baley · 535#36,185 Bailea · 220#39,134 Bailei · 194#43,063 Baile · 165#47,684 Bailley · 136

Also a last name

As a last name, Bailey ranks #73 of 156,621, with 269,092 people. See Bailey as a last name

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