Baeli
A feminine name of uncertain origin meaning "bearer of good news" or "announcement".
Name Census estimates that about 59 living Americans carry the first name Baeli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Baeli today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Baeli births was 2010 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Baeli. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Baeli. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
59
~ 1 in 5,809,396 Americans
Peak year
2010
8 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2023 SSA rank
#15,539
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Baeli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Baeli from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 27 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Baeli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Baeli by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Baeli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Baeli
The name Baeli is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic languages of Western Europe. The earliest known references to this name date back to around the 5th century AD, when it was popular among the Celtic tribes that inhabited regions of modern-day Britain, Ireland, and France.
Baeli is thought to be derived from the Proto-Celtic root word "bailo," which meant "bright" or "shining." This root word is also the source of various other Celtic names, such as Bailen, Bailyn, and Baillie. The name Baeli was likely used to describe a person with a radiant or luminous appearance, or perhaps someone with a bright and cheerful personality.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Baeli was Saint Baeli, a 6th-century Welsh princess and Christian martyr. According to legend, Baeli was born in the kingdom of Gwynedd in northern Wales and was the daughter of Prince Seithenyn. She is said to have been a devout Christian who refused to marry a pagan prince, and as a result, she was beheaded for her faith.
Another notable figure with the name Baeli was Baeli Mawr (fl. circa 1070), a Welsh prince and warrior who fought against the Norman invaders in the late 11th century. He was a member of the powerful House of Mathrafal and is recorded as having led a rebellion against the Norman lords in the Kingdom of Gwynedd.
In the 13th century, there was a Baeli ap Gruffydd (c. 1200-1268), a Welsh nobleman and landowner who served as a trusted advisor to several princes of Gwynedd. He is mentioned in various medieval Welsh chronicles and legal documents of the time.
During the Renaissance period, there was an Italian painter named Baeli Bianco (c. 1460-1535), who was active in Venice and is known for his religious works and portraits. He was part of the Venetian Renaissance art movement and was influenced by the styles of Bellini and Giorgione.
In more recent history, there was a French literary figure named Baeli de Lespinasse (1732-1776), who was a prominent salonnière and writer in 18th-century Paris. She hosted a famous literary salon that was attended by many of the leading philosophers and intellectuals of the Enlightenment period, including Voltaire and Diderot.
While the name Baeli has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it retains a rich historical legacy that spans centuries and cultures, from its Celtic origins to its appearances in various religious, military, artistic, and literary contexts throughout history.
People
Baeli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Baeli as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Baeli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Baeli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 59 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Baeli going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,809,396 US residents.
Is Baeli a common name?
We classify Baeli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Baeli most popular?
The single biggest year for Baeli was 2010, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Baeli is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Baeli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Baeli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Baeli in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Baeli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Baeli in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Baeli can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Baeli?
Find out how many people have the name Baeli on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.