Pet form of Elaine, ultimately from Greek helene, "torch" — torch; bright. Recorded in the American top 1000 only since 2010.
Lainey ranks 30th among American girls in 2025, with 5,743 born that year. Its best year was 2025, when 5,743 babies were given the name, ranking 30th. The typical living American called Lainey is about 3 years old today. It is relatively most common in South Dakota, where it accounts for 0.73% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.