Mailey
A variant spelling of the feminine name Maile, of Hawaiian origin meaning "green leaf".
Name Census estimates that about 495 living Americans carry the first name Mailey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mailey today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mailey births was 2010 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mailey. 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 Mailey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
495
~ 1 in 692,433 Americans
Peak year
2010
40 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,804
Tracked since 1999
Census
Mailey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 436 people with the first name Mailey, which placed it at #22,736 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
#22,736
National first-name rank
People counted
436
436 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mailey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mailey is White at 56.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.9%) and Two or More Races (9.4%). 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 Mailey 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 Mailey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.2% · 245
- Hispanic or Latino23.9% · 104
- Two or more races9.4% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 28
- Black or African American3.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Popularity
Mailey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mailey from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 247 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mailey 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 Mailey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Maileys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Utah, Missouri recorded the most babies named Mailey, while Missouri, Utah, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mailey
The name Mailey is believed to have originated from the Old French word "maillé," which means "spotted" or "dappled." This name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in regions where French was spoken, such as modern-day France, Belgium, and parts of Switzerland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mailey can be traced back to the 13th century. In 1287, a nobleman named Mailey de Montfort was mentioned in historical records from the County of Toulouse, in what is now southern France. This suggests that the name was already in use among the aristocracy during that time period.
In the 14th century, the name Mailey appeared in several religious texts and chronicles. For example, a monk named Mailey de Sancerre was documented in the annals of the Abbey of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, located in central France. This indicates that the name was also adopted by members of the clergy during the late Middle Ages.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Mailey was Mailey de Villers, a French knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War against the English in the early 15th century. Born around 1390, he is remembered for his bravery and loyalty to the French crown during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Another prominent individual with the name Mailey was Mailey de Mauléon, a 16th-century French noblewoman and patron of the arts. Born in 1525, she was known for her support of Renaissance artists and writers, and her salon in Paris was frequented by many influential figures of the time.
In the 17th century, Mailey de La Fayette, a French actress and playwright, gained acclaim for her performances in the theater productions of Molière. Born in 1634, she is remembered for her pioneering contributions to the development of French theater during the golden age of French drama.
While the name Mailey has its roots in the French language, it has also been adopted and adapted in other cultures and regions over time. However, its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages in France, where it was initially used by members of the nobility and clergy before becoming more widespread.
People
Mailey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mailey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mailey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mailey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 495 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mailey 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 692,433 US residents.
Is Mailey a common name?
We classify Mailey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 500 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mailey most popular?
The single biggest year for Mailey was 2010, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mailey is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mailey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 436 people with the name Mailey, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,736 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 Mailey 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 Mailey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mailey appears almost entirely female. Of the 436 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Mailey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mailey is White at 56.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.9%) and Two or More Races (9.4%). 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 Mailey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mailey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.2% (245 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 Mailey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mailey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mailey 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 Mailey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mailey 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 Mailey 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 Americans are named Mailey?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Mailey at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.