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Ashley

♀ Girl

Pronounced ASH-lee /ˈæʃ.li/High

Meaning: Ash tree meadow; clearing of ash trees — from Old English aesc (ash tree) + leah (woodland clearing)High

In 30 seconds: An Old English place name meaning 'ash tree meadow,' Ashley crossed from a surname to a given name and then shifted from boys to girls — becoming one of the most popular American girls' names of the 1980s and 1990s.
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Origin HighOld English
MeaningAsh tree meadow; clearing of ash trees — from Old English aesc (ash tree) + leah (woodland clearing)
Peak year1987
Total births (all-time)≈ 843,819

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 198719172017

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

History & Origin

Ashley derives from the Old English aesc (ash tree) and leah (woodland clearing or meadow). It was an English place name and surname before becoming a given name.

Ashley became hugely popular as a girls' name in the United States in the 1980s after the character Ashley Abbott appeared on the TV series The Young and the Restless. It was a top-3 girls' name from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s.

Did you know? Ashley Wilkes, the genteel Southern gentleman in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936), was male — a reminder that the name was originally masculine before crossing over.

Variations

AshleeAshleighAshleey

Nicknames

Ash

Famous Bearers

  • Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Ashley…

Kimberly— Old English place-surname name with the same 1980s top-10 American peak
Hailey— Old English -ley surname name with the same surname-to-girls'-name arc

Frequently Asked

What does the name Ashley mean?

Ashley comes from Old English, meaning 'ash tree meadow,' from aesc (ash tree) and leah (woodland clearing).

How do you pronounce Ashley?

It is said ASH-lee /ˈæʃ.li/ — two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Ashley a boy or girl name?

Ashley is now used predominantly as a girl's name, though it was historically a boys' name.

How popular is Ashley?

Ashley was one of the most popular U.S. girls' names in the 1980s and 1990s, ranking in the top 5 for over a decade, and remains in the top 200 today.