Haileigh
A feminine name of English origin meaning "hay meadow near a town".
Name Census estimates that about 1,799 living Americans carry the first name Haileigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Haileigh today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haileigh births was 2002 (115 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haileigh. 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
1.8K
~ 1 in 190,525 Americans
Peak year
2002
115 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,531
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Haileigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haileigh from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 965 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haileigh 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 Haileigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Haileighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Haileigh, while Oklahoma, Missouri, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Haileigh
The name Haileigh is a modern English variant of the name Hayley, which itself is a respelling of the English name Hailey. The name Hailey is derived from the Old English word 'hæg' meaning 'hay' or 'hedge'. It is believed to have originally been a surname that later transitioned into a given name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hailey dates back to the 13th century in England. It was initially used as a surname, likely referring to someone who lived near a hedge or worked with hay. Over time, the name gradually transitioned into use as a given name, particularly for females.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Hailey was Hailey Esmonde (born in 1463), an English noblewoman who was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth of York. Another early bearer of the name was Hailey Coxe (1552-1628), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1628.
In the 18th century, the name gained popularity in the United States, with notable individuals such as Hailey Burr (1734-1784), a Revolutionary War soldier and aide-de-camp to General George Washington. Another prominent figure was Hailey Fitch (1798-1865), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana in the 1830s.
The variant spelling Haileigh emerged in the late 20th century as a creative respelling of the traditional Hailey. While its origins are unclear, it is likely an attempt to create a more unique or personalized version of the name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the spelling Haileigh was Haileigh Woodard, an American author and screenwriter born in 1961. Other notable bearers of the name include Haileigh Grimes (born 1978), an American professional wrestler, and Haileigh Rohr (born 1986), an American soccer player.
People
Haileigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haileigh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Haileigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haileigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,799 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haileigh 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 190,525 US residents.
Is Haileigh a common name?
We classify Haileigh as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,828 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haileigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Haileigh was 2002, when 115 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haileigh is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Haileigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haileigh 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.