Ashley (name)

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The name Ashley is of English origin and means from the ash tree field/meadow.

Ashley is an English surname that was used occasionally for male children, but gained popularity as a female first name in the United States in the late 20th century. Its sudden rise in popularity is generally attributed to the emergence of the female soap opera character Ashley Abbott on The Young and The Restless in 1982. Ashley was the most popular name for girls in the United States for several years in the late '80s and early '90s. Although it is still a very popular name today (it ranked as the tenth most popular girls' name in the United States in 2005), its usage as a percentage of total births has declined significantly.

In United Kingdom Ashley is a more male name. In America it is better known as a female name. In the American South it is still used for males, in part thanks to Ashley Wilkes' character from Gone with the Wind.

As with many names that achieve immense popularity, a number of alternate spellings of Ashley emerged. The Social Security Administration has record of girls named:

Ashley
Ashleigh
Ashlee
Ashly
Ashely
Ashlea
Ashlie
Ashli

Famous bearers of this name include:

As a given name:

Ashley Cole, English football player
Ashley Carrington, (pseudonym of German writer Rainer M. Schröder)
Ashley Hames, English television presenter
Ashley Havinden (1903-1973), English font designer
Ashley Massaro (born 1979), professional wrestling diva for the SmackDown! brand.
Ashley Judd (born 1968 as Ashley Tyler Ciminella), American actress
Ashley Olsen (see Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) (born 1986), American actress
Ashley Parker Angel (born 1981), a pop/rock singer formerly in the boy band O-Town
Ashley Tisdale, A rising actress and singer.

As a surname:

Ian Ashley (born 1947), former British Formula 1 race car driver
Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke (born 1922), British Life Peer and former Labour MP
Jackie Ashley, British journalist
Laura Ashley, British designer
Sir William Ashley, Economic historian

As a variant of the name Ashley:

Ashlee Simpson (born 1984), an American pop/rock singer and actress

The name Ashley also appears in literature and popular culture.

Ashley (WarioWare), a character from for the Nintendo DS
Ashley Mizuki Robbins, the hero of Trace Memory for the Nintendo DS
Ashley Wilkes, a central character from the novel Gone with the Wind
"Ask Ashley" (see All That), a comedy skit appearing on the television
Ash Williams, the anti-hero of the Evil Dead trilogy
Ashley Riot, the hero of Vagrant Story

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