Meaning and background
The story behind Bailey
Bailey began as an English surname related to the office of bailiff, before becoming a given name for both boys and girls. Its two clear syllables make it an uncomplicated call across a park or garden. It is tempting to read “bailey” as a castle courtyard too, but the documented given-name route is through the occupational family name rather than a romanticised castle meaning.
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About Bailey
Recorded as a dog’s name
Bailey appears in 413 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/beɪli/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/beɪli/ · primary stress on syllable 1B EY1 L IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.