BabyNameScore

Bailey

BAY·lee · 2 syllables

Bailey is comfortably familiar.

87/100

Strong Practical Fit

Balanced across pronunciation, everyday use, lifetime fit and international use.

Name Profile

  1. Pronunciation & Spelling

    Effortless

    A documented English pronunciation is on file: BAY-lee.

    91/100

  2. Everyday Use

    Low risk

    95/100

  3. Growing Up

    Strong lifetime fit

    Works comfortably across child and adult settings.

    82/100

  4. International Use

    Broad international fit

    Works cleanly across the assessed languages and writing systems.

    85/100

NAME DETAILS

CLOSE SPELLINGS
Bayley
Baylee
Baileigh
Bailee
ORIGIN & HISTORY

About the name

Bailey moved from a medieval administrative-office surname (bailiff) into given-name use the way many English occupational surnames did, but its specific rise as a first name is tied directly to two American television characters — Bailey Quarters (WKRP in Cincinnati) for its feminine wave and a Party of Five character for renewed male use — rather than a slow generic drift.

  1. As a given name, Bailey carries the inherited occupational sense of its source surname: 'bailiff' — a law officer or estate administrator who managed rents, enforced legal orders, and oversaw property on behalf of a lord or the crown in medieval England.
POPULARITY

Bailey over time

United States
#209RANK

Rank #209 gives national context, not a classroom forecast.

Recognizable without feeling automatic. Ranked #209 in the U.S., 2025.

SourceU.S. Social Security Administration · 2025 release

Pronunciation & Forms

SAY IT

BAY·lee

STRESS ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE

CLOSE SPELLINGS
  • Bayley
  • Baylee
  • Baileigh
  • Bailee
PRACTICAL LIFE

How This Name Lives

AT SCHOOL & DAY TO DAY

On a child, Bailey feels friendly and contemporary, and has been common enough for both boys and girls since the 1980s-2000s that it reads as an established, not novel, choice.

INTO ADULTHOOD

As an adult name, Bailey reads as approachable and professional-neutral — common enough in both business and casual registers that it rarely calls attention to itself, unlike more overtly formal surname-names.

Cultural Footprint

Bailey is a widely-cited example of an English occupational surname crossing fully into unisex given-name use. In the UK and Australia it has stayed more strongly associated with boys, while in the US it became strongly feminine-coded from the late 1970s before regaining substantial masculine use in the 1990s-2000s.

TRACEABLE ORIGIN
  1. Bailey Chase (born 1972)American stage and television actor
  2. Bailey Howell (born 1937)American NBA player and Basketball Hall of Famer
  3. Bailey Zimmerman (born 2000)American country music artist
  4. Bailey Sarian (born 1988)American YouTuber and podcaster
  5. Bailey White (born 1950)American author and NPR commentator

More about Bailey

FORMALITY

Functions comfortably as a complete formal given name with no strong nickname culture; it already reads as informal/friendly in tone despite standing alone.

Names around it

HaileyKayleeRiley
EDITORIAL SYNTHESIS

The Decision

Bailey is spelled without unusual letter patterns, and it holds up in everyday use. Surname-dependent compatibility remains unassessed until a surname is added.

STRENGTH

A documented English pronunciation is on file. Uses standard characters that systems widely handle cleanly.

BEST FIT

Everyday Use is the strongest-scoring part of this name — no obvious nickname traps, rhymes, or initial issues detected.

FULL-NAME CHECK

See how it works with a surname.

Bailey