Hailly
A feminine name derived from the French word "hail" meaning "hail" or "icy rain".
Name Census estimates that about 90 living Americans carry the first name Hailly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hailly today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hailly births was 2004 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hailly. 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 Hailly. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
90
~ 1 in 3,808,382 Americans
Peak year
2004
11 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2012 SSA rank
#17,813
Tracked since 1996
Census
Hailly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 118 people with the first name Hailly, which placed it at #50,661 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
#50,661
National first-name rank
People counted
118
118 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hailly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hailly is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.3%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Hailly 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 Hailly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.1% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino26.3% · 31
- Two or more races8.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 4
- Black or African American1.7% · 2
Popularity
Hailly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hailly from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 69 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
Hailly 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 Hailly 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 Hailly
The name Hailly is thought to have originated from the Old English language, with roots dating back to the 5th century CE. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "hægl" meaning "hail" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." The combination of these words suggests that Hailly may have initially referred to a person living in a meadow or clearing where hail frequently fell.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hailly can be found in the Domesday Book, a medieval census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a landowner named Hailly in the county of Berkshire, England. This provides evidence that the name was in use during the 11th century.
In the 12th century, a monk named Hailly is mentioned in the chronicles of the Abbey of St. Albans. He is noted for his skill in calligraphy and his contributions to the abbey's manuscript collection. This suggests that the name was also used in religious contexts during the Middle Ages.
During the 13th century, a knight named Sir Hailly de Montfort fought alongside Simon de Montfort in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III. He was present at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 and is recorded in contemporary accounts of the conflict.
In the 15th century, a prominent merchant named Hailly Pemberton is mentioned in the records of the city of Bristol, England. He was involved in trade with the continent and is noted for his wealth and influence in the city's affairs.
Another notable figure with the name Hailly was a 16th century playwright and poet from the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Hailly Marlowe, born in 1564, was known for his works such as "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" and "The Jew of Malta." He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and is considered one of the most influential dramatists of the Elizabethan era.
While the name Hailly appears to have originated in England, its use has been documented in other parts of Europe as well. However, its popularity has waned over the centuries, and it is now considered a relatively uncommon name in most regions.
People
Hailly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hailly 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
Hailly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hailly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 90 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hailly 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 3,808,382 US residents.
Is Hailly a common name?
We classify Hailly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hailly most popular?
The single biggest year for Hailly was 2004, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hailly is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hailly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 118 people with the name Hailly, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,661 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 Hailly 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 Hailly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hailly leans strongly female. 122 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 4 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Hailly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hailly is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.3%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Hailly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hailly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (65 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 Hailly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hailly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hailly 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 Hailly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hailly 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 Hailly 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 common is the name Hailly?
See how many people share the name Hailly on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.