Fun Facts About the Name Bailly
- 20 babies named Bailly: U.S. records list 20 babies given the name Bailly from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Bailly Mean?
Bailly is a French surname and place name. Its usual meaning is "bailiff" or "steward," from Old French bailli (also spelled bailly in some texts), the term for a royal official or estate manager. In medieval France, a bailli was a king's representative in a district called a bailliage, with judicial, financial, and military duties. The surname Bailly began as an occupational or status name for a person who held that office, served a bailiff, or lived at a bailiff's residence. The final -y is a French spelling and does not by itself indicate a different root. Some places in France named Bailly have a separate toponymic origin, often explained as a Gallo-Roman estate name ending in -acum, so the place-name Bailly and the surname Bailly are not necessarily the same derivation.
Bailly Name History & Origins
The word bailli entered Old French from the administrative vocabulary of the French monarchy. Under kings such as Philip II Augustus in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, baillis were appointed to oversee royal domains, supervise local officials, and enforce royal justice. The title spread through the kingdom, and the surname Bailly appears in medieval and early modern records across France. Because the office was tied to local administration, the name could arise in many regions independently rather than from a single family. Several French communes also carry the name, including Bailly in the Yvelines department near Versailles; such place-name uses may have a separate toponymic origin. In the English-speaking world, Bailly is chiefly found as a surname and occasionally as a given name, usually in reference to French ancestry or to a family name. Jean Sylvain Bailly, the 18th-century French astronomer and first mayor of Paris, is a well-known bearer, but the name's origin lies in the medieval office, not in his later fame.
How Popular is the Name Bailly?
Bailly has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2001. Its best rank was #11,146 in 2001.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | #11,146 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #13,379 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #12,648 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Most Popular Girl Names That Start with B
How the Name Bailly Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Bailly's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Bailly's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.