Meaning and history
Ashley comes from the English surname Ashley, originally from place names meaning “ash tree clearing,” formed from Old English æsc and leah. In the United States it was more commonly given to boys until the 1960s, but it is now used mainly for girls; it peaked in popularity in 1987 and became the top-ranked name in 1991, having been surpassed before then by Jessica. In the United Kingdom, it remains more common as a masculine name. The name was also used by Margaret Mitchell in Gone with the Wind (1936) for the male character Ashley Wilkes.
20062006: 12,353 births, rank #12
2007: 11,428 births, rank #13
2008: 9,408 births, rank #18
2009: 7,815 births, rank #20
2010: 6,317 births, rank #29
20112011: 5,403 births, rank #42
2012: 4,701 births, rank #50
2013: 3,943 births, rank #67
2014: 3,560 births, rank #87
2015: 3,429 births, rank #86
20162016: 3,045 births, rank #101
2017: 2,528 births, rank #122
2018: 2,280 births, rank #129
2019: 2,031 births, rank #137
2020: 1,808 births, rank #153
20212021: 1,700 births, rank #172
2022: 1,865 births, rank #154
2023: 2,184 births, rank #126
2024: 2,240 births, rank #124
20252025: 1,829 births, rank #164
Ashley climbed to #1 for girls from 1991 through 1992. It remains prominent at #164 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1987, with 54,856 births.