Kailey
A feminine diminutive of Kayla, from the Irish name Cailin meaning "girl".
Name Census estimates that about 26,603 living Americans carry the first name Kailey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kailey today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kailey births was 2004 (1,449 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kailey. 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
27K
~ 1 in 12,884 Americans
Peak year
2004
1,449 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2004 SSA rank
#1,284
Tracked since 1970
Gender
Gender distribution for Kailey
Out of the 27,099 babies given the name Kailey since 1880, 100.0% 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.
Kailey as a male name
- Ranked #7,264 in 2004
- 10 male births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (10 births)
Kailey as a female name
- Ranked #1,284 in 2024
- 180 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (1,439 births)
Popularity
Kailey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kailey 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 11,846 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
Kailey 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 Kailey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaileys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kailey, while Wyoming, Delaware, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 522 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kailey
The name Kailey is an English feminine name derived from the Gaelic name Cailin, which means "girl" or "young woman." It is a variant spelling of the more common name Kaylee or Kayleigh. The name's origins can be traced back to the medieval Gaelic language spoken in Scotland and Ireland.
Cailin was originally a Scottish and Irish term used as a general description for a young woman or girl, rather than a formal given name. It gained popularity as a first name in the late 20th century, likely due to the increasing trend of using traditional Gaelic names in English-speaking countries.
The earliest recorded use of Kailey as a given name is relatively recent, with records showing it appearing in the late 20th century. However, the name's roots in the Gaelic language and culture date back several centuries.
Throughout history, there are a few notable individuals who have borne the name Kailey or its variants. One such person is Kailey Lafreniere (born 1990), a Canadian former competitive figure skater who represented Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Another notable Kailey is Kailey Kurachenski (born 1992), a Canadian former competitive swimmer who specialized in the breaststroke events. She won a bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
In literature, Kailey is the name of a character in the young adult novel "Fade" by Lisa McMann, which was published in 2009. The book follows the story of a teenage girl named Janie who has the ability to become invisible.
Kailey Musso (born 1995) is an American actress known for her roles in the Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place" and the Nickelodeon series "Sam & Cat."
Lastly, Kailey Roberts (born 1975) is a Canadian country music singer and songwriter. She has released several albums and has had several charting singles on the Canadian country music charts.
While the name Kailey is relatively modern, its roots in the Gaelic language and culture give it a rich historical significance, and its increasing popularity in recent decades has led to its association with notable individuals across various fields.
People
Kailey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kailey 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
Kailey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kailey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kailey 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 12,884 US residents.
Is Kailey a common name?
We classify Kailey as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,099 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kailey most popular?
The single biggest year for Kailey was 2004, when 1,449 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kailey is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kailey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kailey 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.