BabyNameScore

Paisley

PAYZ·lee · 2 syllables

Paisley is comfortably familiar.

90/100

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: PAYZ-lee (/ˈpeɪz.li/).

    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
Paislee
Paizley
Paisly
ORIGIN & HISTORY

About the name

The town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland has a name of disputed pre-Celtic origin (Brittonic/Cumbric or Gaelic, both traced to a word for 'basilica'/'church'). In the 18th-19th centuries the town became famous for weaving shawls that copied a Kashmiri teardrop motif, so the pattern itself became known worldwide as 'paisley.' As a given name, 'Paisley' is a recent (chiefly American) word-and-place-name coinage that draws its present-day appeal mainly from the fabric pattern and its soft sound, not from any documented personal-name tradition. Paisley as a first name has no personal-name history of its own — it is borrowed from the Scottish town name, whose own etymology (a Brittonic/Cumbric or Gaelic word related to Latin basilica, 'church') is itself unsettled because the Cumbric language went extinct before its exact form in this name could be firmly fixed. The globally familiar teardrop 'paisley' pattern is a later (19th-century) association carrying the same word, not the source of the town's name.

  1. Historical town-name spellings Passaleth (1157), Paisleth (1158), Passelet (1163), Passelek (1296). As a first name, 'Paisley' carries no inherent literal meaning of its own beyond its source as a place name and (by association) the decorative teardrop textile pattern; the town name's own disputed root traces to a word meaning roughly 'basilica'/'church'. The town of Paisley has recorded spellings from at least the 12th century (Passaleth, 1157); its Abbey and basilica-linked etymology tie it to a long ecclesiastical history distinct from its later fame as a first name.
  2. Mythological and religious contextThe town-name etymology (basilica/'church', from Greek basilikos 'royal') has an indirect ecclesiastical connection through Paisley Abbey, but there is no mythological tradition attached to the given name itself.
POPULARITY

Paisley over time

United States
#67RANK

Rank #67 gives national context, not a classroom forecast.

Recognizable without feeling automatic. Ranked #67 in the U.S., 2025.

SourceU.S. Social Security Administration · 2025 release

Pronunciation & Forms

SAY IT

PAYZ·lee

STRESS ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE

CLOSE SPELLINGS
  • Paislee
  • Paizley
  • Paisly
PRACTICAL LIFE

How This Name Lives

AT SCHOOL & DAY TO DAY

Soft and pattern-evocative, fits comfortably as a full first name for a child without needing a nickname.

INTO ADULTHOOD

As a relatively recent word-name coinage, its professional/adult-context track record is shorter than centuries-old names like Oliver or Owen, though it is increasingly common among adult women as the cohort named in the 2000s-2010s ages.

Cultural Footprint

TRACEABLE ORIGIN
  1. Paisley, Renfrewshirethe Scottish town
  2. Paisley ParkPrince's studio/estate, named after his 1985 song
  3. Brad Paisleycountry singer, surname

Community Impressions

Paisley reads as a decorative, pattern-and-place name rather than a dynastic or saintly one: its dominant present-day association for English speakers is the teardrop paisley print, which took the Scottish town's name because Paisley's 19th-century shawl mills mass-produced imitations of Kashmiri boteh-motif shawls popularized in Britain after Queen Victoria wore the style — not any older meaning buried in the place name itself.

How this name is commonly received · not used in the score

More about Paisley

FORMALITY

Functions the same in formal and informal registers; rarely shortened.

Names around it

Paislee
EDITORIAL SYNTHESIS

The Decision

Paisley 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.

Paisley