Kayleigh
A feminine name of Irish origin, representing a meadow and a place name.
Name Census estimates that about 33,604 living Americans carry the first name Kayleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kayleigh today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kayleigh births was 2009 (1,449 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kayleigh. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kayleigh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
34K
~ 1 in 10,200 Americans
Peak year
2009
1,449 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2004 SSA rank
#731
Tracked since 1984
Census
Kayleigh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 28,394 people with the first name Kayleigh, which placed it at #1,296 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
#1,296
National first-name rank
People counted
28K
28,394 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kayleigh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayleigh is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.7%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Kayleigh 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 Kayleigh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 22,406
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 1,910
- Black or African American6.4% · 1,829
- Two or more races6.1% · 1,718
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 281
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 250
Gender
Gender distribution for Kayleigh
Out of the 34,219 babies given the name Kayleigh 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.
Kayleigh as a male name
- Ranked #9,465 in 2004
- 7 male births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (7 births)
Kayleigh as a female name
- Ranked #731 in 2024
- 385 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (1,449 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 28,397 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kayleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kayleigh 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 11,776 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
Kayleigh 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 Kayleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kayleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. Texas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Kayleigh, while Wyoming, Hawaii, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 659 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kayleigh
The name Kayleigh originates from the English language and is a variant of the name Kaylee, which has its roots in the Old English word "cælic" meaning "chalice" or "cup." This suggests that the name may have been used in reference to someone's occupation or role related to serving drinks or vessels.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kayleigh dates back to the late 20th century, with the spelling gaining popularity in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries. It is believed to have emerged as a modern variation of the traditional name Kaylee, possibly influenced by the trend of creating unique and personalized name variations.
While the name Kayleigh does not have a long historical record or appear in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been embraced by several notable individuals throughout the years. One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Kayleigh McEnany, born in 1988, who served as the White House Press Secretary under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021.
Another individual with the name Kayleigh is Kayleigh Haywood, a British teenager who tragically lost her life in 2015 at the age of 15. Her case brought attention to the issue of online grooming and sparked discussions around internet safety for minors.
In the world of sports, Kayleigh Nankivell, born in 1992, is a British artistic gymnast who has represented Great Britain in international competitions and won multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games.
In the entertainment industry, Kayleigh Pearson, born in 1988, is a British actress known for her roles in television series such as "Ackley Bridge" and "The Bay."
Kayleigh Bateman, born in 1989, is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a contestant on the reality television show "The X Factor" in 2007.
While these are just a few examples, the name Kayleigh has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries, and continues to be embraced by individuals from various backgrounds and walks of life.
People
Kayleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kayleigh 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
Kayleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kayleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 33,604 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kayleigh 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 10,200 US residents.
Is Kayleigh a common name?
We classify Kayleigh as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kayleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Kayleigh was 2009, when 1,449 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kayleigh is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kayleigh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 28,394 people with the name Kayleigh, or 9.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,296 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 Kayleigh 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 Kayleigh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kayleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 28,397 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kayleigh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kayleigh is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.7%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Kayleigh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kayleigh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (22,406 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 Kayleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kayleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kayleigh 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 Kayleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kayleigh 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 Kayleigh 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 the name Kayleigh?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.