Bailey
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Meaning
from an English occupational surname meaning "bailiff", an official or estate manager
The story
Bailey Quarters works at a radio station trying to exchange easy listening for rock music. Jan Smithers played her in WKRP in Cincinnati, whose pilot appears in the Paley Center’s catalogue in September 1978. The station is struggling, and its change of sound supplies the setting for the television comedy. Bailey had an occupational history long before this fictional workplace: the English surname comes from Middle English baili, a bailiff. That could mean an official or steward, including a king’s official; in Britain, bailiff can also describe the manager of an estate or farm. Before the late seventies, Bailey was an uncommon masculine given name. The sitcom put a woman called Bailey into its Cincinnati station, giving viewers a named character where the surname’s older history gives a job.
How popular is Bailey around the world?
In the United States, 10,650 babies were named Bailey between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 23 boys were registered as Bailey in 2017.
Bailey is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Scotland, England and Wales, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland.
United States
1 in 2,000
In the United States, 10,650 babies were named Bailey between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Bailey peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure. Bailey went to 2,964 US babies in 2015 and 1,584 in 2025, 53% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 7102017
In South Australia, 23 boys were registered as Bailey in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 1,400
In Scotland, 17 girls named Bailey were registered in 2024, the 215th most common name among girls that year.
In Scotland, 15 boys named Bailey were registered in 2024, the 268th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 2,500
In England and Wales, 178 boys named Bailey were born in 2025, the 260th most common name among boys that year.
In England and Wales, 52 girls named Bailey were born in 2025, the 705th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New Zealand
1 in 2,900
In New Zealand, 20 girls named Bailey were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 3,600
In Canada, 84 girls named Bailey were born in 2024, the 354th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 11,000
In Ireland, 5 girls named Bailey were born in 2025, the 608th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Austria
last on record 2023
Bailey is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Bailey is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Bailey is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Bailey
Most people given the name Bailey in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Bailey · Names that go with Bailey · Middle names for Bailey · Climbers and fallers
The Bailey deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Bailey truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Bailey fits with your family’s names and surname.
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