ninan.org

Ashley

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~856,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#164 among girls
Births in 2025
1,856 875,722 since 1880
Typical age
34 years, median

Ashley popularity over time

Ashley rank by birth year, 1917–2025Ashley ranked #4,594 in 1917 and #164 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #1, in 1991.#1#10#100#1,000#164best #1 in 1991192019401960198020002020
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1917–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1987 is the peak year for Ashley, with 55,265 births. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. It has held a top-100 place in 38 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #164 with 1,856 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 46%. It slipped 40 places against the previous year.

Babies named Ashley per yearPeaks at 55,265 births in 1987.55,265 in 1987018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Ashley?

About 856,200 people named Ashley are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 875,722 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Ashley?

Half of living Ashleys are older than 34, half younger. The 1980s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Ashley a late 20th-century name.

Your Ashley

Ages of living people named AshleyHalf of living Ashleys are older than 34 and half younger.median 34020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Ashley is most common

District of Columbia uses the name 2.5× as often as the country as a whole. Maryland, Florida and New Jersey follow.

Where Ashley is used more than average5 states use the name Ashley more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.8× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 1.7× the national rateVAMaryland: 2.2× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 2.5× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: 2.1× the national rateFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Ashley is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 100 2.5×
Maryland 656 2.2×
Florida 2,411 2.1×
New Jersey 882 1.8×
Virginia 807 1.7×

Is Ashley a boy's or a girl's name?

98% girls2% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Across the whole record, 98.2% of births under the name were girls. The dominant sex is not the same at the end of the record as at the start.

Ashley in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Ashley ranked #716 in 2025 on 74 births. That is 36% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Ashley comes from

From Old English *Æsċlēah, composed of æsċ (“ash tree”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Ashley

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Ashley Tisdale American actress and singer 1985 71
Ashley Cole English association football player 1980 71
Ashley Young English association football player 1985 70
Ashley Judd American actress 1968 66
Ashley Greene American actress 1987 57
Ashley Benson American actress 1989 54
Ashley Olsen American businesswoman, fashion designer and actress 1986 40
Ashley Biden American social worker and fashion designer 1981 33
Photo credits (5)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 15,500 in 1982 to 33,884 in 1983 — 2.2 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Ashley

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Ashley was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/ashley.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).