Bailyn
An Old English surname that means "berrying place".
Name Census estimates that about 293 living Americans carry the first name Bailyn. It is a predominantly female name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Bailyn today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bailyn births was 2011 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bailyn. 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
293
~ 1 in 1,169,810 Americans
Peak year
2011
25 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2012 SSA rank
#9,003
Tracked since 1996
Census
Bailyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 269 people with the first name Bailyn, which placed it at #31,704 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
#31,704
National first-name rank
People counted
269
269 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bailyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bailyn is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Bailyn 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 Bailyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.3% · 181
- Black or African American11.9% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 24
- Two or more races6.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Bailyn
Bailyn leans heavily female at 94.9% of total registrations, but 15 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bailyn as a male name
- Ranked #12,477 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 2001 (5 births)
Bailyn as a female name
- Ranked #9,003 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (20 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bailyn leans strongly female. 223 people counted with this name were female (83.2%), compared with 45 male bearers (16.8%).
Popularity
Bailyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bailyn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 151 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bailyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bailyn 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 Bailyn 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 Bailyn
The given name Bailyn has its roots in the ancient Gaelic language spoken in parts of Scotland and Ireland. It is believed to have originated in the 5th or 6th century CE. The name is derived from the Gaelic word 'baile', which means homestead or settlement, combined with a suffix indicating a diminutive form.
Bailyn was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it did appear in some historical records from the early medieval period. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was found in a monastic chronicle from the 9th century, referring to a monk named Bailyn who lived at a monastery in the Scottish Highlands.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Bailyn mac Fhearghuis was mentioned in Irish annals as a skilled warrior and chieftain from the province of Ulster. He played a role in several clashes between Irish clans during that turbulent period.
During the Renaissance era, a Scottish poet and playwright named Bailyn Dunbar (1460-1520) gained recognition for his satirical works and contributions to the literary culture of the time. His poems and plays often explored themes of social commentary and religious criticism.
In the 17th century, a renowned Dutch mathematician and astronomer, Bailyn Huygens (1629-1695), made significant advancements in the fields of optics, mechanics, and timekeeping. He is credited with the invention of the pendulum clock and contributed to the development of the wave theory of light.
Another historical figure with the name Bailyn was a British naval officer, Bailyn Hornblower (1776-1857), who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. He gained fame for his bravery and leadership in several notable battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Bailyn, which has its roots in ancient Celtic cultures and has been carried on through various periods and regions over the centuries.
People
Bailyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bailyn 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
Bailyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bailyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 293 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bailyn 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 1,169,810 US residents.
Is Bailyn a common name?
We classify Bailyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bailyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Bailyn was 2011, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bailyn is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bailyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 269 people with the name Bailyn, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,704 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 Bailyn 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 Bailyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bailyn leans strongly female. 223 people counted with this name were female (83.2%), compared with 45 male bearers (16.8%). 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 Bailyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bailyn is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Bailyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bailyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (181 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 Bailyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bailyn a female name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Bailyn 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 Bailyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bailyn 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 Bailyn 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 many Americans are named Bailyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Bailyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.