Bailie
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "court attendant".
Name Census estimates that about 1,605 living Americans carry the first name Bailie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bailie today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bailie births was 1997 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bailie. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 213,554 Americans
Peak year
1997
121 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,224
Tracked since 1984
Popularity
Bailie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bailie from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 803 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
Bailie 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 Bailie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bailies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Bailie, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bailie
The name Bailie is a Scottish diminutive form of the name Baillie, derived from the Old French word "baillie" meaning "steward" or "officer of the court." It emerged during the Middle Ages in Scotland, where the Baillie was an important administrative and judicial position.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bailie dates back to the 13th century in Scotland, where it was often used as a surname for those who held the position of Baillie. One notable historical figure with this name was Sir William Baillie (c. 1268-1315), a Scottish nobleman and participant in the Wars of Scottish Independence against England.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Bailie became more commonly used as a given name, particularly among Scottish families with connections to the legal or administrative professions. One famous bearer of the name was Robert Baillie (1599-1662), a Scottish Presbyterian minister and principal of the University of Glasgow, who played a significant role in the Solemn League and Covenant during the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, the name Bailie gained popularity beyond Scotland, with notable individuals such as Baillie Waveney Noel (1775-1843), an English soldier and Member of Parliament. Another prominent figure was Baillie Cochrane (1758-1829), a Scottish naval officer and politician who served as Governor of the Leeward Islands.
The 19th century saw the name Bailie continue to be used across the United Kingdom and its colonies. One notable example was Bailie Grohman (1838-1913), an English author and sportsman who wrote extensively about hunting and outdoor pursuits. In Australia, Bailie Paten Henderson (1804-1886) was a prominent pastoralist and landowner in the colony of New South Wales.
While the name Bailie has its origins in Scotland and was particularly prevalent among Scottish families, it has been used throughout the English-speaking world, often associated with individuals involved in law, politics, or administration. Its rich history reflects the name's connection to the legal and administrative tradition of medieval Scotland.
People
Bailie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bailie 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
Bailie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bailie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,605 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bailie 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 213,554 US residents.
Is Bailie a common name?
We classify Bailie as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,643 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bailie most popular?
The single biggest year for Bailie was 1997, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bailie is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bailie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bailie 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.
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.