Baili
A feminine Mandarin Chinese name meaning "cherished jade" or "precious jade".
Name Census estimates that about 325 living Americans carry the first name Baili. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Baili today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Baili births was 2000 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Baili. 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.
People living today
325
~ 1 in 1,054,629 Americans
Peak year
2000
29 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2014 SSA rank
#14,857
Tracked since 1987
Census
Baili in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 356 people with the first name Baili, which placed it at #26,232 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#26,232
National first-name rank
People counted
356
356 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Baili
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Baili is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Baili described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Baili at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.9% · 231
- Black or African American13.5% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.7% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 21
- Two or more races3.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 6
Popularity
Baili: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Baili from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 159 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Baili 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 Baili 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 Baili
The given name Baili has its origins in the Chinese language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Chinese characters 柏裡, which can be translated to mean "inside the cypress trees." This name was particularly popular in regions of China where cypress trees were revered and held significant cultural and symbolic meaning.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Baili can be found in the classic Chinese text "The Book of Songs," a collection of ancient Chinese poetry and folk songs dating back to around the 6th century BCE. In this text, the name is mentioned in several poems that celebrate the beauty and grace of a young woman named Baili.
Throughout Chinese history, the name Baili has been associated with several notable figures. One of the most famous is Baili Xi (776-826 CE), a renowned Chinese poet and scholar who lived during the Tang Dynasty. Her poetry was widely admired for its elegance and depth, and she is considered one of the greatest female poets in Chinese literary history.
Another notable figure with the name Baili is Baili Tusu (1608-1646 CE), a revered Manchu military leader and strategist who played a crucial role in the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. His exceptional military prowess and tactical brilliance earned him a place in the annals of Chinese history.
In the realm of art and culture, Baili Shi (1926-2009) was a celebrated Chinese painter and calligrapher known for her unique fusion of traditional Chinese techniques with modern artistic sensibilities. Her works have been exhibited in numerous prestigious galleries and museums around the world.
Baili Xian (1921-2000), on the other hand, was a distinguished Chinese botanist and conservationist who dedicated her life to the study and preservation of rare and endangered plant species in China. Her groundbreaking research and advocacy efforts contributed significantly to the protection of China's rich botanical heritage.
While the name Baili has its roots in Chinese culture, it has also been adopted and adapted by various other cultures and languages over the centuries, reflecting the global influence and appeal of Chinese names and traditions.
People
Baili + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Baili 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
Baili: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Baili?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 325 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Baili 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 1,054,629 US residents.
Is Baili a common name?
We classify Baili as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 333 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Baili most popular?
The single biggest year for Baili was 2000, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Baili is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Baili in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 356 people with the name Baili, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,232 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Baili in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Baili?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Baili leans strongly female. 334 people counted with this name were female (93.6%), compared with 23 male bearers (6.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Baili?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Baili is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Baili most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Baili in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (231 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Baili in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Baili a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Baili 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 Baili still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Baili 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 Baili 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.
How common is the name Baili?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Baili at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.