How popular is the baby name Hayleigh in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Hayleigh.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Hayleigh


Posts that mention the name Hayleigh

Popular baby names in Malta, 2013

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

Malta’s top baby names of 2013 came out a few weeks ago.

According to data from the National Statistics Office, the most popular name-groups last year were Elena/Elenia/Helena/Ella and Luke/Luca/Lucas.

Here are Malta’s top 20 girl name-groups and top 20 boy name-groups of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Elena/Elenia/Helena/Ella, 106 baby girls (5.5% of all girls)
  2. Eliza/Elisa/Elizabeth/Elise, 78
  3. Julia/Yulia/Julianne, 69
  4. Emma/Emmanuela/Ema, 51
  5. Maya/Mia/Myah, 47
  6. Maria/Marija/Mariah/Marie, 42
  7. Lea/Leah/Leia, 37
  8. Martina/Martine, 36
  9. Christina/Christa/Christabel/Krystle, 35
  10. Kailey/Kai/Kaleigh, 34 (3-way tie)
    • Catherine/Katrina/Kate/Katya, 34 (3-way tie)
    • Emilia/Emily/Emelie, 34 (3-way tie)
  11. Amy/Aimee, 32
  12. Anna/Hannah/Ann, 31
  13. Mikela/Makaila/Michelle, 27 (tie)
    • Alison/Alice/Alicia/Alyssa/Aly, 27 (tie)
  14. Sophia/Sophie, 26
  15. Jade/Giada, 22 (tie)
    • Alexandra/Alessia/Alexia/Lexi, 22 (tie)
  16. Aaliyah/Alaya, 21
  17. Chloe/Khloe, 20 (3-way tie)
    • Amber/Amberley, 20 (3-way tie)
    • Karla/Carla/Carly, 20 (3-way tie)
  18. Jasmine/Yasmine/Yasmeen, 17 (3-way tie)
    • Nina, 17 (3-way tie)
    • Faith, 17 (3-way tie)
  19. Hailey/Hailee/Hayleigh, 16
  20. Nicole/Nicola/Nicky, 14 (4-way tie)
    • Rachel/Raquel, 14 (4-way tie)
    • Keira/Kyra, 14 (4-way tie)
    • Claire/Clara/Clarisse, 14 (4-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Luke/Luca/Lucas, 106 baby boys (5% of all boys)
  2. Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 93
  3. Jacob/Jake, 70
  4. Zachary/Zak/Zack, 56
  5. John/Jean/Jonathan/Juan/Gan, 53 (tie)
    • Michael/Miguel/Mikhail, 53 (tie)
  6. Andrew/Andreas/Andre/Andy, 46
  7. Kaiden/Kayden/Kai, 45 (tie)
    • Alexander/Alessandro/Alec, 45 (tie)
  8. Aiden/Ayden, 43
  9. Liam/William, 42
  10. Nicholas/Nick/Nicolai, 41
  11. Benjamin/Ben, 40
  12. Daniel/Dan/Danil, 33
  13. Isaac/Izaak, 32 (tie)
    • Mason/Maison, 32 (tie)
  14. Jack/Jackson/Jacques, 30
  15. Jaden/Jayden/Jadon, 29 (tie)
    • Thomas/Tommas/Tommy, 29 (tie)
  16. Nathan/Nathaniel, 28
  17. Julian/Julien/Guiliano, 27
  18. Gabriel/Gabrijel/Gabryl, 24 (tie)
    • Adam, 24 (tie)
  19. Joseph/Beppe/Giuseppe/Josef, 23 (tie)
    • Noah, 23 (tie)
  20. James/Jamie/Jayme, 22 (3-way tie)
    • Samuel/Sam, 22 (3-way tie)
    • Keiran/Kyran, 22 (3-way tie)

Some of the unusual names registered in Malta last year were Aizley, Amporn, Breeze, Chinenye, Coco, Delson, Diyas, Enonima, Freedom, Gundula, Jaceyrhaer, Kobbun, Limoni, Love, Netsrik, Summer, Symphony, Zarkareia and Zveyrone.

Malta’s 2012 list was topped by Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina and Matthew/Matthias/Matteo.

Sources: NSO – Naming Babies: 2013, Quality and Amporn top the list of unusual names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Popular baby names in Malta, 2012

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

The most popular baby names in Malta were released back in May.

According to the National Statistics Office, the country’s top names (or name groups, actually) were Matthew/Matthias/Matteo for boys and Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina for girls.

Here are Malta’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Girl Names

  1. Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina, 98 baby girls
  2. Elena/Elenia/Helena/Ella, 91
  3. Julia/Yulia/Julianne, 67
  4. Emma/Emmanuela/Ema, 54
  5. Maya/Mia/Myah, 47
  6. Lea/Leah/Leia, 46
  7. Christina/Christa/Christabel/Krystle, 45
  8. Mikela/Makaila/Michelle, 44
  9. Chloe/Khloe, Maria/Marija/Mariah/Marie, 39 each [2-way tie]
  10. Amy/Aimee, 37
  11. Kailey/Kai/Kaleigh, 34
  12. Martina/Martine, 32
  13. Catherine/Katrina/Kate/Katya, 30
  14. Jade/Giada, 28
  15. Anna/Hannah/Ann, 27
  16. Amber/Amberley, Sophia/Sophie, 24 each [2-way tie]
  17. Jasmine/Yasmine/Yasmeen, Chanel/Shanelle, 23 each [2-way tie]
  18. Emilia/Emily/Emelie, 21
  19. Hailey/Hailee/Hayleigh, Alison/Alice/Alicia/Alyssa/Aly, Faith, 19 each [3-way tie]
  20. Aaliyah/Alaya, 18

Boy Names

  1. Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 101 baby boys
  2. Jacob/Jake, 98
  3. Luke/Luca/Lucas, 87
  4. Zachary/Zak/Zack, 58
  5. Kaiden/Kayden/Kai, 56
  6. John/Jean/Jonathan/Juan/Gan, 50
  7. Aiden/Ayden, 47
  8. Nathan/Nathaniel, 45
  9. Isaac/Izaak, Liam/William, 43 each [2-way tie]
  10. Alexander/Alessandro/Alec, 42
  11. Benjamin/Ben, 40
  12. Michael/Miguel/Mikhail, 39
  13. Nicholas/Nick/Nicolai, 36
  14. Jaden/Jayden/Jadon, Joseph/Beppe/Giuseppe/Josef, 35 each [2-way tie]
  15. Daniel/Dan/Danil, 30
  16. Yannick/Yan, Jack/Jackson/Jacques, Thomas/Tommas/Tommy, 29 each [3-way tie]
  17. Mason/Maison, Kyle/Kail, Andrew/Andreas/Andre/Andy, 28 each [3-way tie]
  18. James/Jamie/Jayme, 26
  19. Gabriel/Gabrijel/Gabryl, 24
  20. Julian/Julien/Guiliano, Denzel/Danzel/Denzilee, 22 each [2-way tie]

The 98 baby girls of the Eliza/Lisa/Elsie/Elyse/Bettina group represent 4.8% of all baby girls born in Malta in 2012, and the 101 baby boys of the Matthew/Matthias/Matteo group represent 4.6% of all baby boys.

I have three earlier Malta lists (2006, 2007, 2009) here at NBN, but there are even more (2002 through 2012, inclusive) at the NSO website — use the link below.

Source: Naming Babies: 2012 (NSO)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Hailey, Haleigh, Haylee… which spelling is best?

Which spelling of "Hailey" is best?

Back when I published the first version of this post — using the SSA’s 2007 baby name data — the name Hailey was the 23rd most popular name for U.S. baby girls.

(It’s highest-ever usage had been a few years earlier, in 2003.)

But, while “Hailey” was the most popular spelling of the name, it certainly wasn’t the only spelling being used. Other popular variants included…

And, of course, there were dozens more. Some examples: Halley, Hayli, Haylei, Haile, Haylea, Haili, Haillie, Hailea, Hailei, Haeley, Haely, Haelee, Hailley, Haeleigh, Hailly, Haeli, and Hayliee.

Which spelling of Hailey do you prefer? Why?

P.S. Fourteen years later, the entire name-group is not as trendy as it once was. The most popular spelling is still Hailey, though it now ranks 77th. Haley, Haylee, and Hayley are still in the top 1,000, but Haylie, Hailee, Haleigh, Hailie, and Hayleigh have since dropped out.

[Latest update: Jan. 2023]

Sophia tops Emily: Adjusting the most popular U.S. baby names

The Social Security Administration doesn’t combine spelling variations when compiling its annual list of popular baby names. Though this is probably the most logical way for them to present their data, it tends to skew the overall picture a bit.

For instance, according to the SSA, the top ten girl names in 2007 were Emily, Isabella, Emma, Ava, Madison, Sophia, Olivia, Abigail, Hannah and Elizabeth (in that order). If we account for spelling variations, though, the top ten is more like:

1stSophia (16,804)
Sofia (5,974)		22,778 (1.0930%)
2ndEmily (19,105)
Emely (1,011)
Emilee (782)
Emilie (507)
Emmalee (368)		21,773 (1.0447%)
3rdIsabella (18,874)
Izabella (1,475)
Isabela (625)		20,974 (1.0064%)
4thMadison (17,731)
Madyson (898)
Maddison (854)
Madisyn (843)		20,326 (0.9754%)
5thOlivia (16,329)
Alivia (1,628)
Alyvia (276)		18,233 (0.8748%)
6thEmma (18,127)18,127 (0.8698%)
7thAva (17,865)17,865 (0.8572%)
8thAbigail (15,292)
Abbigail (648)
Abigayle (313)
Abagail (309)
Abigale (279)		16,841 (0.8081%)
9thBrianna (8,741)
Briana (2,781)
Breanna (2,455)
Bryanna (703)
Breana (299)		14,979 (0.7186%)
10thAddison (11,823)
Addyson (1,368)
Addisyn (488)
Adyson (455)
Adison (395)		14,529 (0.6971%)

And this doesn’t account for several things:

  • Eva could be seen as a form of Ava. That would bring Ava/Eva up to 4th place.
  • Hailey, the 23rd most popular girl name, can also be spelled Hailee, Hailie, Haylee, Hayley, Haylie and Hayleigh. If you throw in Haley and Haleigh as well, that brings the entire name group up to 8th place. (I tend to pronounce these last two more like Halle/Hallie, though, so I didn’t do it that way.)