Girls' name · peaked in 2001
Kaleigh name popularity since 1925
16,250 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kaleigh. Half of them were born in 2002 or earlier, so the typical Kaleigh is about 24 years old in 2026. Kaleigh peaked in 2001 as the #399 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 16,250
- Named Kaleigh, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,973 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 100.0% girls
- 16,244 girls · 6 boys
- Most popular in
- Georgia
- 2.10× its national share
Peak year is the year Kaleigh made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Kaleigh births per year, 1925–2025
2001 was the biggest year for Kaleigh both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1987 and 1992, Kaleigh became 1.9× more common, from 1 in 6,000 baby girls to 1 in 3,200.
- Steepest fall: Between 2011 and 2016, its share of baby girls fell by 55%, from 1 in 4,310 to 1 in 9,680.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kaleigh's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kaleigh.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kaleigh in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1980s | 1,397 | 0 | #1,484 |
| 1990s | 5,270 | 0 | #481 |
| 2000s | 6,286 | 6 | #451 |
| 2010s | 2,787 | 0 | #1,052 |
| 2020–25 | 504 | 0 | #2,973 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
57.5% of babies named Kaleigh from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Kaleigh is most popular
The index compares Kaleigh's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Kaleigh.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 2.10× | 850 |
| Mississippi | 2.10× | 373 |
| Alabama | 1.86× | 482 |
| Louisiana | 1.84× | 485 |
| Massachusetts | 1.81× | 630 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kaleigh and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Kaleigh (this page) | 16,244 | 2001 |
| Caleigh | 5,768 | 1999 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kaleigh's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kaleigh.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kaleigh (2001).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data