Hayle
Derived from a Welsh placename, meaning "from the salt marsh".
Name Census estimates that about 1,493 living Americans carry the first name Hayle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hayle today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hayle births was 2003 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hayle. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 229,574 Americans
Peak year
2003
95 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,556
Tracked since 1977
Census
Hayle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,471 people with the first name Hayle, which placed it at #9,437 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
#9,437
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,471 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hayle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hayle is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Hayle 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 Hayle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.5% · 1,023
- Hispanic or Latino16.0% · 235
- Black or African American6.5% · 96
- Two or more races4.3% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 14
Popularity
Hayle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hayle from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 750 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
Hayle 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 Hayle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hayles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Hayle, while Virginia, Oklahoma, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hayle
The name Hayle is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "hæg" which means "hedge" or "enclosure." It is believed to have originated as a surname used to identify people who lived near or worked with hedges or enclosures, such as farmers or landowners.
In the Middle Ages, the name Hayle was primarily used as a surname, but over time it also became adopted as a given name. The earliest recorded use of Hayle as a first name dates back to the 14th century, where it appeared in various historical records and documents.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Hayle was Hayle de Bampton, a landowner and knight who lived in the 13th century in Bampton, Oxfordshire, England. Another notable figure was Sir Hayle de Vere, a prominent English nobleman and military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War during the 14th century.
In the 16th century, Hayle gained popularity as a first name among the English gentry and aristocracy. One notable bearer of the name was Hayle Penry, a Welsh Protestant martyr who was executed in 1593 for his religious beliefs and writings.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Hayle continued to be used, although it remained relatively uncommon. One notable individual from this period was Hayle Wiston, an English philosopher and writer who lived in the late 17th century and wrote extensively on topics such as natural philosophy and metaphysics.
In the 19th century, the name Hayle experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the upper classes in England. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Hayle Selwyn, a renowned British explorer and naturalist who led several expeditions to Africa and the Middle East in the mid-1800s.
While the name Hayle has never been among the most popular given names, it has maintained a small but steady presence throughout history, particularly in England and other parts of the British Isles. Its unique etymology and connection to the land and nature have made it a distinctive and enduring choice for parents seeking a name with historical roots and significance.
People
Hayle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hayle 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
Hayle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hayle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,493 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hayle 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 229,574 US residents.
Is Hayle a common name?
We classify Hayle as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hayle most popular?
The single biggest year for Hayle was 2003, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hayle is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hayle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,471 people with the name Hayle, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,437 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 Hayle 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 Hayle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hayle leans strongly female. 1,436 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 33 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Hayle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hayle is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Hayle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hayle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.5% (1,023 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 Hayle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hayle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hayle 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 Hayle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hayle 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 Hayle 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 people have Hayle as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Hayle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.