Baylor Name Meaning & Historical Trends

Baylor

Pronunciation: BAY-lur

Meaning Bailiff or steward Gender Unisex
BOYS RANK
#386
TREND
21
GIRLS RANK
#694
TREND
113

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of boys named Baylor in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name Baylor

  • More than 12 thousand babies named Baylor: U.S. records list 12,726 babies given the name Baylor from 1880 through 2025. Of these, 3,721 girls received the name Baylor - about 1 girl for every 2 boys.

What Does the Name Baylor Mean?

Baylor is an English surname whose usual explanation is occupational: it comes from Middle English baili, meaning bailiff or steward, with the agent suffix -er. The Middle English word was borrowed from Old French baillif, which goes back to Latin baiulus, meaning porter or carrier. The literal sense is a person who served as a bailiff or estate manager.

Some surname references treat Baylor as a variant of Bailor or Bayler, and a few suggest that some American families may have altered a German surname such as Behler or Böhler. The exact relationship among these spellings is not always clear, and similar-looking names can have separate origins.

Baylor Name History & Origins

Baylor began as an English surname. Occupational surnames became fixed in England during the later Middle Ages, and a name meaning bailiff would have identified a man who managed an estate, collected rents, or served a lord in a position of local authority. Spellings such as Bailor, Bayler, and Baylor appear as variants, and the surname remained uncommon.

In the United States, the surname is associated with Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, a Kentucky-born judge, soldier, and Baptist minister who settled in Texas. Baylor University in Waco, Texas, is named for him; it was founded in 1845. The given name Baylor is a modern use of the surname, part of the American practice of adopting family names as first names; it is used mainly for boys.

How Popular is the Name Baylor?

Baylor recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2024. Its best rank was #365 in 2024.

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.

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.

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How the Name Baylor 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 always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.

✦ Baylor's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Baylor's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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