Recorded 1910–2025 · United States
Halley was most popular in 1986, when 355 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,021 that year. In 2025 it ranked #6,196, with 43 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,238 people named Halley.
Halley first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1910, which makes it about 115 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 81 of the 116 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,238 American births named Halley between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 4,063 are estimated to be alive today.
43 American babies were named Halley in 2025, ranking #6,196 that year.
Halley is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 48 births a year, against 47 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +2% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Halley is a girl’s name — 97.0% of the 4,238 Americans given it were girls and 3.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 4,063 Americans named Halley are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 28 years old, and half are between 20 and 35.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Halley on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org