Likely a variant of Eiley or Ailey, related to Irish-rooted surname and given-name forms.
Eiley is a modernized phonetic rendering of Eilidh, the Scottish Gaelic form of one of the oldest feminine names in the Western world. Eilidh (pronounced AY-lee) is the Gaelic cognate of Helen and Eleanor, names ultimately derived from the ancient Greek Helenē — a name whose precise etymology has long been debated, with scholarly candidates including a root meaning 'bright, shining light,' a connection to the Greek word for torch, and even a possible pre-Greek origin. In Scotland, Eilidh has been used for centuries, deeply embedded in Highland culture and Gaelic-language communities.
The name Helen itself, from which this lineage flows, is among the most mythologically charged in all of Western literature: Helen of Troy, whose 'face launched a thousand ships' in Homer's Iliad, made it one of the defining feminine names of antiquity. Through Eleanor, the name shaped medieval history via Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most powerful women of the twelfth century, queen to two kings and mother to two more. Eilidh and Eiley carry this ancient brightness at several removes, filtered through the music of Gaelic.
The spelling Eiley emerged as Gaelic names began crossing into anglophone communities where the traditional Irish and Scottish orthography baffled unfamiliar eyes. By rendering the name phonetically, parents preserve the sound — that bright, open AY-lee — while making it immediately readable to teachers, grandparents, and friends who have never encountered Gaelic spelling conventions. It is a practical adaptation of a timeless name, trading heritage orthography for accessibility without sacrificing the name's essential character or warmth.