How popular is the baby name Hayley 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 Hayley.

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Popularity of the baby name Hayley


Posts that mention the name Hayley

Popular baby names in Malta, 2009

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

The last time I wrote about popular baby names in Malta was two years ago. It’s time for an update!

A total of 4,143 babies were born in Malta in 2009. (In 2006, the number was 3,885.) These were the most popular baby names last year:

Girl Names

  1. Maria/Mariah/Marie, 82 baby girls
  2. Elena/Ylenia/Ella, 79
  3. Christina/Kristina/Krista, 63
  4. Eliza/Elizabeth/Lisa, 52
  5. Amy/Aimee, 49
  6. Julia/Gulia, 45
  7. Maya/Maia, 39 [tie]
  8. Emma, 39 [tie]
  9. Martina, 33
  10. Rihanna/Rhiana, 32
  11. Jasmine/Yasmine 31
  12. Keira, 29
  13. Mikela/Michaela, 28
  14. Jade 27
  15. Hannah/Anna/Ann, 26
  16. Nicole, 25 [3-way tie]
  17. Mireille, 25 [3-way tie]
  18. Hailey/Hayley, 25 [3-way tie]
  19. Sarah/Sara, 24
  20. Emilia, 22 [tie]
  21. Lea, 22 [tie]
  22. Thea, 20
  23. Shania, 18 [4-way tie]
  24. Katrina/Kate, 18 [4-way tie]
  25. Amber, 18 [4-way tie]
  26. Kailey/Kayleigh, 18 [4-way tie]
  27. Faith, 17 [tie]
  28. Laura, 17 [tie]

Boy Names

  1. Luke/Luca, 92 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 84
  3. Jake, 59
  4. Aiden, 53
  5. Jaden/Jayden, 51
  6. John/Giovanni/Jean, 48
  7. Kaiden/Kayden, 47
  8. Michael/Miguel/Mikele, 46
  9. Nicholas/Nick, 42
  10. Isaac/Izaak, 39
  11. Nathan, 38
  12. Liam/William, 36 [tie]
  13. Gabriel, 36 [tie]
  14. Benjamin/Ben, 35
  15. Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, 34 [tie]
  16. Zachary/Zak, 34 [tie]
  17. James, 33 [tie]
  18. Daniel, 33 [tie]
  19. Denzel/Danzil, 31
  20. Keiran, 29
  21. Andre/Andrew/Andrea, 26 [tie]
  22. Sven, 26 [tie]
  23. Julian, 25
  24. Kyle, 24 [tie]
  25. Joseph/Giuseppe/Beppe, 24 [tie]

You’ll notice that Malta still lumps variants together. (They even lump non-variants like Elena and Ella together.) I’m not a big fan of this method because when groupings change from year to year, comparisons become impossible.

Malta also seems to have some issues with spelling. Aidan and Kieran became Aiden and Keiran between 2006 and 2009, for instance. And I wonder if “Gulia” wasn’t supposed to be spelled “Giulia.” (Though I do like the fact that there’s a “Julia/Gulia” grouping. Very Wedding Singer-esque.)

But it’s interesting stuff nonetheless. I’m especially intrigued by all the -ayden names on the boys’ list. (Worldwide phenomenon, anyone?)

If you want to see more from Malta, the top baby names of 2008, 2007, 2004/2005, 2003 and 2002 are available for download.

Source: National Statistics Office – Malta

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]

Popular baby names in Malta, 2007

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

Malta seems to be having some trouble tallying baby names. According to the island’s National Statistics Office, these were the top boy names of 2007:

  1. Luke/Luca, 98 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matteo/Matthias, 88
  3. Jake, 56
  4. Julian, 40
  5. John/Gianni/Jean/Juan/Sean, 38
  6. Nicholas/Nikolai & Aiden, 37 (tie)
  7. Kieran, 35
  8. Isaac, 34
  9. Andrew/André/Andrea & Zack, 33 (tie)
  10. Nathan/Nathaniel, 32
  11. Jeremy/Jerome & James/Jamie & Jayden, 31 (tie)
  12. Daniel & Gabriel & Miguel, 29 (tie)
  13. Liam, 28
  14. Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro & Neil, 26 (tie)
  15. Michael/Mikiel/Mikail/Michele & Carl/Carlo/Karl & Kyle, 24 (3-way tie)
  16. Benjamin & Thomas/Tommaso, 20 (tie)
  17. Christian/Kristian, 18
  18. Mark/Marc/Marco, 17
  19. Dejan & Denzel, 16 (tie)
  20. Kayden, 13

There’s nothing wrong with the list itself. But problems begin when you try to compare this list with the 2006 list.

For instance, in 2006, 49 boys were named Michael or Michele. A year later, there’s no way to tell if either of these names has became more or less popular — all we know is that 24 boys were named Michael, Michele Mikiel or Mikail, and that 29 boys were named Miguel specifically.

And that’s just the beginning. Between 2006 and 2007, Nicholas became Nicholas/Nikolai, Thomas became Thomas/Tommaso, and James became James/Jamie. Alexander became Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, while (accent-less) Andre became Andrew/André/Andrea. All of these odd groupings make it impossible to draw conclusions about how the popularity level of a specific name has changed over time.

I am also suspicious about spelling. Aidan (#6) and Jaydon (#19) from the 2006 list seemed to morph into Aiden (#6) and Jayden (#11) in 2007.

Finally — and this may be nit-picky — I dislike how Jeremy and Jerome were lumped together. The names may look alike, but they are unrelated.

I have issues with the girl names as well:

  1. Maria/Mariah, 73 baby girls
  2. Martina, 47
  3. Julia/Giulia, 42
  4. Christina/Kristina/Christine/Christa, 41
  5. Elisa/Eliza/Elizabeth, 39
  6. Sarah, 36
  7. Emma & Maya, 34 (tie)
  8. Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, 31
  9. Amy & Jasmine/Yasmine, 30 (tie)
  10. Michela/Michelle, 29
  11. Katrina/Katie & Shania, 27 (tie)
  12. Aaliyah & Hayley & Jade, 21 (tie)
  13. Alexandra/Alessandra/Alessia, 20
  14. Francesca & Ylenia, 19 (tie)
  15. Kylie, 18
  16. Kaya, 17
  17. Emily & Kayleigh, 16 (tie)
  18. Kelsey & Leah & Rihanna & Thea, 15 (4-way tie)
  19. Ella & Elena & Kiera & Kyra, 14 (4-way tie)
  20. Hannah, 13

Between 2006 and 2007, Julia became Julia/Giula, Nicole became Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, Jasmin (sans e) became Jasmine/Yasmine, and Elisa/Eliza became Elisa/Eliza/Elisabeth. Michela went from being grouped with Michaela to being grouped with Michelle.

And, as with the boys, I don’t think spelling stayed consistent. Hailey (#10, 2006) became Hayley (#12, 2007) and Kaylie (#17, 2006) became Kayleigh (#17, 2007).

Malta, you’re driving me crazy! I hope the top names of 2008 are listed more logically, i.e., using name-groupings that have been used before.

Source: Naming Babies: 2007 [pdf]

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

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.)