Bailey is a given name derived from the surname Bailey.The most likely derivation of the surname is from bailli, the Anglo-Norman equivalent of bailiff. Use of surnames as masculine given names is mostly an American fashion of the 19th century. An early American bearer of the given name was Bailey Bartlett (1750–1830). Occasional use of Bailey as given name in the USA is recorded throughout the 19th century, but it mostly fell out of use by the 1940s. In the 1980s, it saw a resurgence of popularity as a feminine name beginning in the 1980s, popularized by the female character Bailey Quarters in the American comedy television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982), played by Jan Smithers. In the 1990s to 2000s, there was also a resurgence in use as a masculine name.