Kaeleigh
A feminine name derived from the Gaelic elements "cael" meaning "slender" and "leigh" meaning "beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 1,391 living Americans carry the first name Kaeleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kaeleigh today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kaeleigh births was 2008 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kaeleigh. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 246,409 Americans
Peak year
2008
65 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,555
Tracked since 1985
Census
Kaeleigh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,153 people with the first name Kaeleigh, which placed it at #11,241 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
#11,241
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,153 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaeleigh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaeleigh is White at 74.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.4%) and Hispanic (7.6%). 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 Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.6% · 860
- Two or more races8.4% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 88
- Black or African American6.7% · 77
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 11
Popularity
Kaeleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kaeleigh 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 582 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
Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kaeleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kaeleigh, while Virginia, New Jersey, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kaeleigh
The name Kaeleigh is a relatively modern invention that first appeared in the late 20th century. It is an anglicized spelling of the Irish Gaelic name Cáelaidhe, which means "slender" or "thin." The name Cáelaidhe itself is derived from the Old Irish word "caël," meaning "slender" or "thin."
Despite its Irish Gaelic roots, the name Kaeleigh does not have a long historical tradition or any recorded appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures. It is a relatively new name that gained popularity in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom, in the late 20th century.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Kaeleigh date back to the 1970s and 1980s, although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of this particular spelling. It is possible that the name was created by parents seeking a unique and stylized version of the traditional Irish name Cáelaidhe.
As a relatively new name, there are not many notable historical figures who bore the name Kaeleigh. However, here are a few examples of people who have been given this name in more recent times:
1. Kaeleigh Regan (born in 1987) is an American actress and model.
2. Kaeleigh Forsyth (born in 1989) is a Canadian actress and model.
3. Kaeleigh Pearson (born in 1991) is a Canadian soccer player who played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
4. Kaeleigh Doxon (born in 1993) is an American soccer player who played for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
5. Kaeleigh Haycock (born in 1995) is a Canadian actress and singer.
While the name Kaeleigh may lack a deep historical lineage, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and stylized variation of the traditional Irish name Cáelaidhe, appealing to parents seeking a distinctive and modern name for their children.
People
Kaeleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kaeleigh 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
Kaeleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kaeleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,391 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kaeleigh 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 246,409 US residents.
Is Kaeleigh a common name?
We classify Kaeleigh as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,418 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kaeleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Kaeleigh was 2008, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,153 people with the name Kaeleigh, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,241 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 Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kaeleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,155 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 Kaeleigh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kaeleigh is White at 74.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.4%) and Hispanic (7.6%). 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 Kaeleigh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kaeleigh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.6% (860 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 Kaeleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kaeleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh 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 Kaeleigh?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.