Kailee
A feminine name of English origin, possibly a variant of the name Kayley.
Name Census estimates that about 12,618 living Americans carry the first name Kailee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kailee today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kailee births was 2003 (584 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kailee. 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
13K
~ 1 in 27,164 Americans
Peak year
2003
584 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2019 SSA rank
#1,926
Tracked since 1976
Gender
Gender distribution for Kailee
Out of the 12,851 babies given the name Kailee since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kailee as a male name
- Ranked #13,100 in 2019
- 5 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2006 (9 births)
Kailee as a female name
- Ranked #1,926 in 2024
- 103 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (584 births)
Popularity
Kailee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kailee 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 5,169 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
Kailee 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 Kailee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kailees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kailee, while Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 245 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kailee
Kailee is a feminine given name of Scottish origin, derived from the Gaelic word "cailín" which means "young maiden" or "girl". The name can be traced back to the medieval era, when it was commonly used in the Scottish Highlands and surrounding regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kailee dates back to the 13th century, where it appears in the Scottish clan records as a variant spelling of "Cailín". It was particularly popular among the Highlanders, who valued the name's association with youth and purity.
Historically, the name Kailee has been found in various ancient Scottish texts and literary works, often associated with characters portrayed as virtuous and innocent. For example, in the 15th-century poem "The Brus" by John Barbour, there is a character named Kailee who represents the epitome of Scottish womanhood.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Kailee. One of the earliest recorded was Kailee MacLeod (c. 1480-1540), a Scottish noblewoman known for her involvement in the clan wars of the Hebrides. Another prominent figure was Kailee Douglas (1575-1648), a Scottish poet and author whose works celebrated the beauty of the Scottish countryside.
In the 18th century, Kailee Campbell (1710-1792) was a renowned Scottish botanist and naturalist, known for her extensive research on the flora of the Highlands. Later, in the 19th century, Kailee Macdonald (1835-1912) was a Scottish suffragist and advocate for women's rights, who played a significant role in the early feminist movement.
More recently, Kailee Graves (1935-2018) was a Scottish artist and sculptor, renowned for her abstract and modernist works, which were widely exhibited throughout Europe and North America.
While the name Kailee has Scottish roots, it has gained popularity in various parts of the English-speaking world, particularly in North America and Australia, where it is often considered a modern and stylish variant of the traditional Scottish name.
People
Kailee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kailee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kailee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kailee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,618 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kailee 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 27,164 US residents.
Is Kailee a common name?
We classify Kailee as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,851 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kailee most popular?
The single biggest year for Kailee was 2003, when 584 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kailee is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kailee a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Kailee 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.