Fun Facts About the Name Kailee
- More than 12 thousand babies named Kailee: U.S. records list 12,949 babies given the name Kailee from 1880 through 2025. Even 28 boys received the name Kailee - about 1 boy for every 461 girls.
What Does the Name Kailee Mean?
Kailee is an English feminine name, usually treated as a respelling of Kaylee. Its common explanation joins two elements. The first is Kay, a short form of Katherine (Greek Aikaterine, of uncertain meaning but long popularly glossed as "pure"). The second is the ending -lee, from Old English lēah, "wood, clearing, meadow." Read that way, the name is customarily given as "pure meadow." That rendering should be understood as a traditional interpretation built from the name's parts, not a documented ancient meaning, because the sense of Katherine itself is not securely known.
Some sources instead connect Kaylee and its variants to the Irish name Keely, an anglicized form of Caoilfhionn (from caol, "slender," and fionn, "fair, white"). The similarity in sound is not evidence of a shared origin, and the English compound explanation is the one most often given. Since Kailee is a modern name assembled from familiar pieces rather than one inherited with a long written record, its meaning is best described as customary rather than settled.
Kailee Name History & Origins
Kailee belongs to a cluster of modern English feminine names formed from a short first syllable plus the ending -lee or its close relatives -ley, -leigh, and -lie. Kaylee, Kayleigh, Kailey, Kaley, and Kaylie sit in the same group. These are 20th-century English-language formations rather than inherited Old English names; they borrow the Old English place-name element lēah ("meadow, clearing") as a fashionable name-ending, much as earlier names like Ashley and Bradley use -ley.
The first element rests on the name Kay, which has more than one background. It serves as a short form of Katherine, a name that reached English through medieval French and Latin from Greek, and it is also the English form of the Welsh name Cai, familiar from Sir Kay, the seneschal and foster-brother of King Arthur in Arthurian legend. In the 20th century Kay was widely used for women, and longer, more ornamental names were built from it. Kailee is one such spelling; the ai and ee vowels do not change the sound, so it is pronounced the same as Kaylee.
The related spelling Kaylee was already in use in the United States by the late 20th century, and it later became widely recognized through the character Kaylee Frye in the television series Firefly (2002) - a well-known later use of the name, not its origin.
How Popular is the Name Kailee?
Kailee recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2003. Its best rank was #486 in 1999.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,969 | 98 | 0.0061% |
| 2024 | #1,926 | 103 | 0.0064% |
| 2023 | #1,681 | 123 | 0.0077% |
| 2022 | #1,526 | 141 | 0.0086% |
| 2021 | #1,392 | 157 | 0.0096% |
| 2020 | #1,310 | 168 | 0.0104% |
| 2019 | #1,159 | 207 | 0.0123% |
| 2018 | #1,045 | 246 | 0.0145% |
| 2017 | #939 | 281 | 0.0163% |
| 2016 | #912 | 304 | 0.0172% |
| 2015 | #817 | 344 | 0.0193% |
| 2014 | #864 | 319 | 0.0179% |
| 2013 | #740 | 368 | 0.0210% |
| 2012 | #738 | 377 | 0.0214% |
| 2011 | #670 | 423 | 0.0241% |
| 2010 | #664 | 439 | 0.0247% |
| 2009 | #650 | 455 | 0.0248% |
| 2008 | #631 | 490 | 0.0259% |
| 2007 | #586 | 512 | 0.0266% |
| 2006 | #587 | 496 | 0.0261% |
| 2005 | #575 | 499 | 0.0270% |
| 2004 | #529 | 537 | 0.0292% |
| 2003 | #493 | 584 | 0.0320% |
| 2002 | #514 | 534 | 0.0297% |
| 2001 | #532 | 503 | 0.0279% |
| 2000 | #504 | 536 | 0.0295% |
| 1999 | #486 | 534 | 0.0301% |
| 1998 | #510 | 496 | 0.0281% |
| 1997 | #579 | 401 | 0.0230% |
| 1996 | #626 | 359 | 0.0205% |
| 1995 | #719 | 286 | 0.0163% |
| 1994 | #821 | 246 | 0.0138% |
| 1993 | #898 | 215 | 0.0119% |
| 1992 | #905 | 216 | 0.0117% |
| 1991 | #890 | 221 | 0.0118% |
| 1990 | #1,134 | 153 | 0.0081% |
| 1989 | #1,135 | 146 | 0.0079% |
| 1988 | #1,272 | 115 | 0.0065% |
| 1987 | #1,576 | 80 | 0.0046% |
| 1986 | #1,643 | 72 | 0.0042% |
| 1985 | #2,766 | 34 | 0.0020% |
| 1984 | #3,788 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1983 | #3,739 | 21 | 0.0013% |
| 1982 | #4,601 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1981 | #8,501 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1980 | #6,503 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1979 | #7,597 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1978 | #7,249 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1977 | #8,936 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #8,588 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | #13,100 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #8,382 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #7,927 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #9,696 | 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.
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How the Name Kailee Shapes Your Personality and Life?
EXTREMES in fortune, health and spirituality. You are very versatile, idealistic and intuitive. You either enjoy great success or suffer abject misery. The solution is service to others. Use your leadership abilities for humanity and not for self-glorification. 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.
✦ Kailee's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Kailee's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.