Zailee
A feminine name of modern fabricated origin, potentially derived from Zaille or Zellie.
Name Census estimates that about 475 living Americans carry the first name Zailee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zailee today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zailee births was 2022 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zailee. 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
475
~ 1 in 721,588 Americans
Peak year
2022
45 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,873
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Zailee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zailee 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 245 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zailee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zailee 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 Zailee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zailees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Zailee
The name Zailee is of Arabic origin and can be traced back to the early Islamic era, around the 7th century AD. It is derived from the Arabic word "Zail," which means "shadow" or "shade." The name was likely given to children as a symbolic representation of protection and shelter from the harsh desert sun.
In its earliest form, the name was spelled "Zaylah" or "Zailah," and it was primarily used by Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant region. As Islam spread across North Africa and into parts of Europe, the name gained popularity among Muslim communities in these regions.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Zailee can be found in a 9th-century Arabic manuscript, which mentions a woman named Zailah bint Abdullah, who was a renowned scholar and poet from Cordoba, Spain. She lived during the Umayyad Caliphate and was known for her contributions to Arabic literature.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Zailee or its variations. One of the most famous was Zailee al-Baghdadi, a 12th-century Arabic philosopher and scientist from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and optics.
Another prominent figure was Zailee al-Andalusi, a 13th-century Andalusian poet and scholar from Seville, Spain. His works were widely celebrated and influential during the Golden Age of Islamic culture in Iberia.
In the 16th century, there was Zailee al-Maqdisi, a renowned Sufi mystic and scholar from Jerusalem. He authored several works on Islamic spirituality and was known for his profound teachings on the inner dimensions of the faith.
During the Ottoman Empire, Zailee Pasha was a distinguished military commander and statesman who served under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. He played a crucial role in the Ottoman campaigns against the Safavid Empire and the Habsburgs.
While the name Zailee has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has also been adopted and adapted by various other communities around the world over the centuries. The name continues to be used today, carrying with it a rich historical legacy and a connection to the diverse cultural tapestry of the Middle East and beyond.
People
Zailee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zailee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zailee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zailee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 475 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zailee 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 721,588 US residents.
Is Zailee a common name?
We classify Zailee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 478 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zailee most popular?
The single biggest year for Zailee was 2022, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zailee is about 9 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 Zailee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zailee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zailee 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 Zailee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zailee 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 Zailee 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 are named Zailee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.