UK girl's name
Kayley
A feminine form of the Gaelic name Cailí meaning "slender".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2022. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Kayley is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Kayley popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2022 in this profile. In that release it ranked #5669, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 127 births.
This profile covers 1,270 England and Wales registrations across 27 recorded years from 1996 to 2022. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 2% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 1,554 living people in the UK are called Kayley. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2023 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Kayley ranked #5669 for girls in England and Wales in 2022, with 3 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1996, when 127 girls were registered as Kayley.
- • Kayley ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #391 in 2023.
- • About 1,554 living people in the UK are estimated to have Kayley as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#5669
2022
Births in 2022
3
Latest year
Peak year
1996
127 births
Estimated living
1,554
2026
Meaning
What does Kayley mean?
The name Kayley is an English variant of the Scottish name Cailley, which is a feminine form of the Gaelic name Cailean. This name is thought to have derived from the Old Irish name Caillin, meaning "bright-headed" or "young beau." The name Caillin is believed to have originated from the Old Celtic word "cail," meaning "bright" or "fair."
The earliest recorded use of the name Kayley dates back to the late 19th century in England. It is believed that the spelling variation with a "y" emerged during this time as a way to distinguish the name from the more common spelling of "Kailey."
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Kayley was Kayley Cuoco, an American actress born in 1985. She is best known for her role as Penny on the popular sitcom "The Big Bang Theory."
In literature, the name Kayley appears in the 1998 animated film "Quest for Camelot." The character Kayley is a brave and adventurous young woman who sets out on a journey to save the kingdom of Camelot.
Another famous bearer of the name was Kayley Sheehan, an American figure skater who competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
In the world of politics, Kayley Frye was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 2016 to 2019.
Kayley Woollacott is a British horse trainer and racehorse owner who has won numerous prestigious races, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2022.
While the name Kayley has roots in Scottish and Irish Gaelic cultures, it has gained popularity in various parts of the English-speaking world, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Kayley over time
The chart below shows babies named Kayley registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2022. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Kayley, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2022, compared with 127 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kayley by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Kayley was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #4362 | 14 | 3 |
| 2010s | #2558 | 155 | 10 |
| 2000s | #527 | 690 | 10 |
| 1990s | #334 | 411 | 4 |
Geography
Where Kayley is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Kayley. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Kayley ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #391 in 2023.
Across the UK
Kayley in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#502 in 2018
31 years of NRS records, 273 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#391 in 2023
5 years of NISRA records, 21 total registered
Related
Names similar to Kayley
- Katie 53,185
- Keira 14,411
- Katherine 11,323
- Kayleigh 10,677
- Kate 10,276
- Kelsey 7,224
- Kiera 7,218
- Kayla 6,541
- Kirsty 6,384
- Khadija 5,948
- Kimberley 5,189
- Kaitlyn 5,137
FAQ
Kayley: questions and answers
How popular is the name Kayley in the UK right now?
In 2022, Kayley was ranked #5669 for girls in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.
When was Kayley most popular?
The peak year on record was 1996, with 127 babies registered as Kayley in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Kayley?
A feminine form of the Gaelic name Cailí meaning "slender".
How many people are called Kayley in the UK?
A total of 1,270 babies have been registered as Kayley across the 27 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 273 more in Scotland and 21 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Kayley most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Kayley ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #391 in 2023. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.