Meaning and Origin of the Name Hayley

The meaning of Hayley is hay meadow or hay clearing. It has an English origin.

The name comes from an English town known as Hailey in Oxfordshire from the word hêg lêah. There’s a theory that Hayley came from the Norse word for hero, haela.

Popularity of the Name

Popularity of Hayley was best from 1980 until 1999 when the name popularity began to decline. Hayley is presently ranked in the top 31 percent for girls, ranking 1321 out of 4276 of British girls’ names.

Famous People Called Hayley

The name Hayley has been used by many famous British women. Movie actress, Hayley Mills was born in 1946. Ms. Mills was born in London, England and began her movie career when she was only 12-years-old. She starred in many fun, coming of age movies in the 1960s, including the original film versions of The Parent Trap and That Darn Cat. Hayley Mills was given her mother’s maiden name.

More recently, on December 3, 1997 Hayley Okines was born in Bexhill, England. She made news at 14 when she wrote her first book, Old Before My Time, about living with progeria, an aging disease. It’s rare that a boy will be named Hayley. Usually, the male spelling is Haley.

Two other Hayleys’ of note are Hayley Westenra classical singer from New Zealand and Hayley Cropper the fictional character who was from the popular English soap Coronation Street.

Useful Resources

Discover the meaning and popularity of other girls’ names like Hayley on this website.