Haley
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Meaning
from an Old English place name meaning 'hay meadow'
The story
Haley is a modern spelling in the Hayley surname family. The surname comes from English place names, commonly explained through elements for hay and a clearing or meadow. The Haley spelling gained American visibility in 1977, the year Alex Haley's Roots was adapted into a landmark television miniseries. Behind the Name treats that connection as possible rather than proven for every family. The US curve rises from a small earlier line in the 1970s and 1980s, reaches its broad high point across the 1990s and 2000s, then declines through the 2010s and 2020s. Other spellings continued their own races, so this curve belongs to Haley alone, not to every name with the same sound. The result is a name with both place-name ancestry and a precise American spelling era, familiar today but strongly stamped by the late twentieth century.
Haley's name family
One shared root links 4 names in English.
Shared root: from an Old English place name and surname, "hay meadow"; one modern given name in many spellings
The family
More branches
How popular is Haley around the world?
In the United States, 2,734 babies were named Haley between 2020 and 2025.
Haley is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Montevideo, France, Austria, Mexico City, England and Wales, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 8,000
In the United States, 2,734 babies were named Haley between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Haley peaked in the 1990s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure. Haley went to 1,135 US babies in 2015 and 314 in 2025, 28% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 13,000
In Canada, 29 girls named Haley were born in 2024, the 934th 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)
Montevideo City
1 in 25,0002011
In Montevideo, 1 boy named Haley was born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
France
1 in 32,000
In France, about 20 girls named Haley were born in 2025, ranked 1,536th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Haley was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 4 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
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Haley in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
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
England and Wales
1 in 150,000
In England and Wales, 4 girls named Haley were born in 2025, ranked 4,867th 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
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 293 people in Brazil were named Haley, ranked 19,363rd, with a median age of 13.
Among people named Haley living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 20 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 1.1M
In Spain, 40 residents are named Haley, ranked 16,993rd among women, with a mean age of 12.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2021
Haley is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Ireland
last on record 2022
Haley is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
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
New Zealand
last on record 2002
Haley is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
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
Scotland
last on record 2021
Haley is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
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
South Australia
last on record 2016
Haley is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Not on the record in 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 Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
How the spellings raced
Across these spellings, Hailey led in the group’s busiest decade, the 2000s. So far in the 2020s, Hailey leads.
Decade totals from US Social Security birth registrations. Every line uses the same scale. The 2020s covers 2020–2025.
When you meet Haley
Most people given the name Haley in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Haley you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Haley deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Haley 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 Haley fits with your family’s names and surname.
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