It is almost impossible to watch a movie's credits, read a magazine or listen to a school's roll call without the name Ashley cropping up. The name has English roots and has been defined as meaning “from the ash tree”, “lives in the ash tree grove" or “clearing among the Ash trees”.
Alternate Spellings of Ashley
In addition to its most popular spelling, the Social Security database reflects other popular ways Ashley has been spelled on birth records:
- Ashlie
- Ashlee
- Ashleigh
- Ashly
- Ashli
- Ashlea
- Ashleah
- Ashlei
- Ashle
- Ashliee
Popularity of the Name Ashleigh
Ashley was exclusively a male name from the 1880’s through early 1960’s, at which time it emerged as a girl’s name as well. Over the last few decades the name Ashley, in all its spellings, became an increasingly popular girl’s first name, and by the mid-1990’s it was rarely chosen for a newborn baby boy.
“Ashley” ranked in the top ten on Social Security’s Popular Baby Names list for twenty-two years from 1983 through 2005, hitting its peak on two consecutive years, 1991 and 1992. "Ashley" has fallen on Social Security’s popular newborn baby names chart over the past decade, dropping from 4th spot in 2000, to rank the 20th spot in 2009.
The search tool on HowManyofMe.com, delivered the following statistics for the name Ashley in the U.S. as of the 2000 census.
- There were 490,780 people with the first name Ashley.
- "Ashley" was the 114th most popular first name.
- 95.58% of people named Ashley were female.
Famous Ashleys
Over the years, there have been many famous Ashleys. Here are just a few:
- Ashley Greene (Actress/Twilight’s Alice character)
- Ashley Olsen (Actress from Full House)
- Ashley Tisdale (Singer/Actress)
- Ashley Judd (Actress)
- Ashley Roberts (Pop Sing from the Pussycat Dolls)
- Ashley Wagner (Figure Skater)
- Ashlee Simpson (Pop/rock singer and Actress)
- Ashley Massaro (Professional Wrestler and Model)
Other Ashley Trivia
The name Ashley has been used in many creative endeavors:
Ashley Banks was a character in the popular televison show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In Nintendo’s video game, WarioWar:Touched, the fifteen-year-old witch who resides in Diamond City’s haunted mansion is named Ashley.
There are many cities in the UK and United States named Ashley, as well as one in Australia.
According to BabyNames.com , the popularity of the name Ashley was strongly influenced by the 1936 novel and 1939 movie, Gone With the Wind, based on the character Ashley Wilkes, a Confederate soldier and Scarlet O’Hara’s love interest.
The 1994 US Census, ranked the name Ashley second in popularity for females of all ages. The girl babies who were given this name in the peak of its popularity are turning 19 and 20 this year, so undoubtedly, “Ashley” will be a name seen often in the media and headlines for decades to come!
Resources:
Social Security Online “Popular Baby Names”
Jan Peterson - I'm a retired banker, published songwriter, cyber journalist, and member of the advisory board for the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall ...
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