girl's name
Haley
HAY-lee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 167,794
the United States
#861
2025 births
Haley means hay meadow, from an English place name. It is not connected to Halley's comet, which carries a different surname with a different origin and was never pronounced the same way at all.
- Haley is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2000, when 9,100 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 10,558 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1890.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Haley over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 45 |
| 1900s | 32 |
| 1910s | 94 |
| 1920s | 131 |
| 1930s | 63 |
| 1940s | 61 |
| 1950s | 47 |
| 1960s | 399 |
| 1970s | 2,224 |
| 1980s | 12,918 |
| 1990s | 71,437 |
| 2000s | 57,252 |
| 2010s | 12,910 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,734 |
What Haley means
Haley means hay meadow, or hay clearing. The Old English joins the word for hay to leah, a woodland clearing, so the name describes cleared ground that was mown.
Where Haley comes from
Haley is an English place and surname, from heg, hay, joined to leah — a clearing in woodland, which is one of the most common elements in English place naming and gives the -ley in Bradley, Ashley and hundreds of others. Hayley in Worcestershire is the usual source. The comet is unrelated: Edmond Halley's surname has a separate derivation and was pronounced to rhyme with valley rather than daily. The given name is entirely twentieth-century and American, and the spelling divided across Haley, Hayley, Hailey and Haleigh.
Haley in use
Haley peaked in the United States in 2000, when 9,100 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 861st in the United States on 314 births, 1707th in France on 20 and 5605th in England and Wales, across 167,794 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. About 99 percent of recorded births are female.
How popular is Haley?
In 2025, Haley was given to 314 babies in the United States, ranking #861 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Haley is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Haley
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Haley also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Haley over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Haley in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Haley
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Haley — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Haley
What does the name Haley mean?
Hay meadow — the Old English heg, hay, joined to leah, a woodland clearing.
Is Haley related to Halley's comet?
No. Edmond Halley's surname has a separate origin and rhymed with valley, not daily.
Which spelling is most common?
They divided the same sound — Haley, Hayley, Hailey and Haleigh all carry substantial volume.
How popular is Haley?
861st in the United States, down from a 2000 peak of 9,069 births.
Is Haley a girl's or a boy's name?
Haley is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Haley?
Haley has 2 syllables.
Is Haley a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Haley currently ranks #861 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.