Hadlei
A feminine name of unclear origin, potentially a variant of Hadley.
Name Census estimates that about 94 living Americans carry the first name Hadlei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hadlei today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hadlei births was 2013 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hadlei. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hadlei. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
94
~ 1 in 3,646,323 Americans
Peak year
2013
12 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,654
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Hadlei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hadlei from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 73 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
Hadlei 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 Hadlei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hadlei
The given name Hadlei has its roots in the ancient Brittonic language, which was spoken by the Britons, a Celtic people who inhabited what is now Great Britain during the Iron Age and Roman period. The name is believed to have originated around the 5th century CE.
Its etymological origins can be traced back to the Proto-Celtic words *kat and *lēg, meaning "battle" and "bright" respectively. The name Hadlei, therefore, likely carried the connotation of "bright warrior" or "shining in battle" for the ancient Britons.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that variations of the name were used by the Britons during their conflicts with the invading Anglo-Saxons and later the Vikings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hadlei can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a landowner named Hadlei who held estates in the county of Somerset.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Hadlei. One such person was Hadlei of Exeter (1180-1245), a medieval scholar and physician known for his contributions to the study of medicine and natural philosophy. Another was Hadlei the Scribe (1315-1380), a renowned calligrapher and illuminator of manuscripts during the 14th century.
In the 16th century, Hadlei Fitzwilliam (1510-1568) was a prominent English landowner and courtier who served as a member of the Privy Council under King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. Hadlei Cromwell (1595-1658), a distant relative of Oliver Cromwell, was a military officer who fought for the Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War.
The most recent historical figure of note to bear the name Hadlei was Hadlei Baring (1835-1913), a British banker and philanthropist who served as the Lord Mayor of London from 1904 to 1905.
People
Hadlei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hadlei 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
Hadlei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hadlei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hadlei 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 3,646,323 US residents.
Is Hadlei a common name?
We classify Hadlei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 95 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hadlei most popular?
The single biggest year for Hadlei was 2013, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hadlei is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hadlei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hadlei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hadlei 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 Hadlei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hadlei 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 Hadlei 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Hadlei?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Hadlei on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.