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Bailey

Boy / Girl name · 1,338 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Bailey: 1,338 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to both boys and girls, peaking at 63 births in 2006.

Bailey began as an English occupational surname, derived from the Old French *baillif*, meaning "bailiff" or "steward" — a role of considerable responsibility overseeing a lord's estate. Notably, the name was popularised for girls by the 1998 sitcom *The Nanny*, whose star Fran Drescher played a character named C.C. Babcock, but it was Bailey — a sweet-natured showbiz assistant — who captured hearts, helping the name climb Scottish charts around the millennium. A famous early bearer was Bailey Gwynne, the young Aberdonian whose tragic 2015 death led to Scotland's "Bailey Gwynne Law" on knife crime awareness. The name shares its root with the word "bailiwick", meaning a person's area of expertise, and remains a firm, cheerful favourite for both boys and girls in Scotland rather than directly linking to a geographic place.