Zailey
A unique blend of the names Zane and Bailey, possibly meaning "wealthy protector".
Name Census estimates that about 1,082 living Americans carry the first name Zailey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Zailey today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zailey births was 2018 (93 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zailey. 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
- • Zailey is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 316,779 Americans
Peak year
2018
93 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,008
Tracked since 2000
Census
Zailey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 674 people with the first name Zailey, which placed it at #16,648 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
#16,648
National first-name rank
People counted
674
674 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zailey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zailey is White at 50.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.4%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Zailey 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 Zailey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.1% · 338
- Hispanic or Latino25.4% · 171
- Black or African American11.4% · 77
- Two or more races8.5% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 14
Popularity
Zailey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zailey 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 636 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zailey remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zailey 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 Zailey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zaileys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Zailey, while Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zailey
The name Zailey is a relatively modern invention, with its origins shrouded in mystery. It is believed to have emerged as a creative amalgamation of various existing names and linguistic roots, rather than having a direct linguistic or cultural lineage.
Some scholars speculate that Zailey may have been derived from the Arabic name Zayna, meaning "beauty" or "adornment." Others suggest a possible connection to the Hebrew name Zillah, which means "shadow" or "shade." However, these theories remain unsubstantiated, and the true etymology of Zailey remains elusive.
Despite its uncertain beginnings, the name Zailey has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries. It is often associated with the desire to bestow a unique and creative name upon a child, reflecting the growing trend of inventing new names or combining existing ones.
While there are no documented historical references or famous figures from antiquity bearing the name Zailey, a few notable individuals have carried this name in modern times. One such person is Zailey Groves, an American golfer who competed in various professional tournaments during the early 2000s. Another is Zailey Depass, a Canadian actress known for her roles in television series like "Killjoys" and "Murdoch Mysteries."
Additionally, Zailey Polak is a Dutch YouTuber and social media influencer, gaining recognition for her lifestyle and fashion content. Zailey Woodley, born in 2005, is a young American actress who has appeared in several films and television shows.
It is worth noting that Zailey Lenvik, a Norwegian singer and songwriter, has also contributed to the recognition of this unique name through her music career.
While the name Zailey may lack a deep historical lineage, its growing popularity reflects the evolving trends in naming practices, where creativity and uniqueness are highly valued. As society continues to embrace diverse and innovative names, Zailey serves as an example of how linguistic boundaries can be stretched, giving rise to new and distinctive monikers.
People
Zailey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zailey 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
Zailey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zailey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,082 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zailey 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 316,779 US residents.
Is Zailey a common name?
We classify Zailey as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,091 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zailey most popular?
The single biggest year for Zailey was 2018, when 93 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zailey is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zailey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 674 people with the name Zailey, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,648 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 Zailey 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 Zailey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zailey appears almost entirely female. Of the 672 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Zailey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zailey is White at 50.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.4%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Zailey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zailey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.1% (338 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 Zailey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zailey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zailey 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 Zailey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zailey 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 Zailey 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 have the name Zailey?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.