How popular is the name Ashley?

Ashley ranks 22nd among girls' names in US records, with 959,349 births since 1917. Over the past decade it accounts for 24,306.

Is Ashley a unisex name?

No. Ashley is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.

1987, when 59,185 children were given the name. It has been in use for 108 years and is still recorded as of 2024.

Ashlee, Ashleigh. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.

Girl name#22 of girl names

Pronounced AE1 SH L IY0 (ARPABET)

Ashley is a girls' name, and first appears in 1917. It has been given to 959,349 children — the 22nd most common girls' name on record.

It is falling away, down 72% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1987, when 59,185 children were given it.

Two other spellings are counted in that total — Ashlee and Ashleigh — because they are pronounced identically.

1987Girls: 59,185Boys: 428

These spellings sound identical to Ashley and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

Phonetic detail

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

How popular is the name Ashley?: Ashley ranks 22nd among girls' names in US records, with 959,349 births since 1917. Over the past decade it accounts for 24,306.
Is Ashley a unisex name?: No. Ashley is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Ashley most popular?: 1987, when 59,185 children were given the name. It has been in use for 108 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Ashley spelled?: Ashlee, Ashleigh. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.