Finlay

Irish and Scottish

"fair-haired hero"

Finlay Origin and Meaning

The name Finlay is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "fair-haired hero".

Finlay is a Scottish royal name: it belonged to Macbeth's father, Finlay MacRory--or Findlaech mac Ruaidri--that has a bit of a split personality. It has two acceptable spellings--Finlay and Finley, the first more popular in its native Scotland, where it ranks in the Top 10, the second in the US. It is also becoming more and more unisex in the States, with the Finley spelling now split between girls and boys, while Finlay was used last year for TEN TIMES as many boys as girls, about 50 to only five.

Increasingly popular on the celebrity circuit, the splits are evident here too. Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen, and Sadie Frost have boys named Finlay, Chris O'Donnell and Holly Marie Combs have sons called Finley, and Lisa Marie Presley, Daniel Baldwin, and Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn have daughters named Finley; the latter couple were instrumental in making the gender switch in 2003.

Finlay Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 969 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Finlay

• 969 Nameberry 2025
• 172 England 2023
• 11 Scotland 2024

20 Names Similar to Finlay

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Finlay.

• Emery
• Coen
• Teagan
• Merrick
• Adler
• Roan
• Finnick
• Fynn
• Arden
• Corbin
• Finnegan
• Remi
• Auden
• Harlan
• Anders
• Fallon
• Alden
• Emmerson
• Callahan
• Rowen

Famous People Named Finlay

• Finlay MacMillan Scottish actor
• Finlay Bealham Australian,Irish rugby union player
• Finlay Jefferson Currie Scottish actor
• Finlay Wild Scottish fell runner
• Finlay McQuistan Scottish WWI flying ace
• Carlos Finlay epidemiologist in the 1800's

The name Finlay in Pop Culture

• Finlay Richter character in novel "The One Apart" by author Justine Avery