Girl · Scottish (from Latin via Middle Irish) · International
Paisley
PaisleySay it PAYZ-lee
- Meaning today
- Church, patterned fabric
- Original meaning
- "from the Scottish town of Paisley, a name meaning "church"" Online Etymology Dictionary
- Say it
- PAYZ-lee
- Other spellings
- Paislee, Payslee
Paisley
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Paisley meaning
Paisley is an international girl's name of Scottish origin (from Latin via Middle Irish).
From the Scottish town of Paisley, a name meaning "church"
Also used to mean: patterned fabric
Paisley is the name of a town in south-west Scotland, near Glasgow, and of the swirling teardrop pattern woven there. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates paisley as the name of the cloth to 1834 and explains the town's name as literally "church", from Middle Irish baslec, from Latin basilica. The teardrop motif itself came to Scotland on shawls from Kashmir, and Indians know it as the kairi or mango pattern, so the name has a quiet link with India. Its use as a girl's first name is a modern American one. It is said PAYZ-lee.
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com) · entry paisley · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Online Etymology Dictionary, paisley · Online Etymology Dictionary, basilica
Popularity abroad
- #67 United States, girls 2025 (down 6 from 61 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration - #226 England and Wales, girls 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Paisley · Paislee · Payslee