Hailley
Feminine form of the Middle English name Hailey, derived from a place name meaning "hay meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 445 living Americans carry the first name Hailley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hailley today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hailley births was 2000 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hailley. 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
445
~ 1 in 770,234 Americans
Peak year
2000
36 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,170
Tracked since 1986
Census
Hailley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 446 people with the first name Hailley, which placed it at #22,352 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
#22,352
National first-name rank
People counted
446
446 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hailley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hailley is White at 65.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.4%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Hailley 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 Hailley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.9% · 294
- Hispanic or Latino20.4% · 91
- Two or more races5.8% · 26
- Black or African American3.6% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 8
Popularity
Hailley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hailley 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 229 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
Hailley 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 Hailley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hailleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Hailley, while Texas, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hailley
The name Hailley is a variant spelling of the English name Hayley, which is derived from the Old English word "hæg" meaning "hay" or "hedge." It is a feminine name that emerged in the British Isles during the medieval period, possibly as an occupational surname for someone who worked with hay or lived near a hedgerow.
While the name Hailley does not appear to have any direct historical references or mentions in ancient texts, its root form, Hayley, has been recorded in various historical documents dating back to the 13th century. One of the earliest known mentions of the name was in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, which listed a person named Richard de Haylegh.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Hailley or its variant spellings. One of the earliest recorded examples was Hayley Westenra, a New Zealand soprano and classical crossover singer, born in 1987. Another prominent figure was Hayley Mills, a British actress born in 1946, who gained fame as a child star in films such as "Pollyanna" and "The Parent Trap."
In the literary world, Hayley Atwell, a British-American actress born in 1982, is known for her portrayal of Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hayley Wickenheiser, a Canadian ice hockey player born in 1978, is considered one of the greatest players in women's hockey and a pioneer in the sport.
Additionally, Hayley Williams, the lead vocalist of the rock band Paramore, born in 1988, has made a significant impact on the music industry with her powerful vocals and songwriting abilities.
While the name Hailley may not have a rich historical background like some other names, its roots in the Old English language and its connection to nature and rural life give it a unique charm and appeal. The name has been embraced by individuals from various walks of life, each leaving their mark on history in their own way.
People
Hailley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hailley 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
Hailley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hailley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 445 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hailley 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 770,234 US residents.
Is Hailley a common name?
We classify Hailley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 455 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hailley most popular?
The single biggest year for Hailley was 2000, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hailley is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hailley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 446 people with the name Hailley, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,352 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 Hailley 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 Hailley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hailley appears almost entirely female. Of the 456 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Hailley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hailley is White at 65.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.4%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Hailley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hailley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.9% (294 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 Hailley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hailley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hailley 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 Hailley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hailley 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 Hailley 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 share the name Hailley?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.