Ashley (given name)

For other uses, see Ashley (disambiguation).

Ashley

Gender	either
Language(s)	English
Origin
Meaning	Ash tree meadow
Other names
See also	ASH, ASHES

The name "Ashley" is of English origin, from a place name and surname from the Old English words 'æsc' (ash) and 'lēah' (meadow, forest clearing).

As a given name, like most surnames turned into first names, Ashley was originally used for male children, but it 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. In the United Kingdom the name is used for both boys and girls.

Aisling, a similar-sounding name of separate etymology and Irish Gaelic origin, is a traditionally female noun meaning "vision" as of a feminine spirit, and became a popular name for girls in the early-to-mid 20th century. "Ashlyn" and "Ashlynn" are derived from this etymology, and "Ashley" may be back-derived as well.

As with many names that achieve immense popularity, a number of spellings of Ashley emerged. The United States Social Security Administration has records of many different spellings, including Ashley, Ashleigh, Ashlie, Ashlé, and Ashlyn, among others.

People

First name, female

• Ashley Argota (born 1993), American actress
• Ashley Benson (born 1989), American actress
• Ashley Black (born 1986), American cheerleader
• Ashley Blue (born 1981), American porn star
• Ashley Bouder, New York City Ballet principal dancer
• Ashley Colon (born 1971), Puerto Rican merengue singer
• Ashley Dupree (born 1985), American prostitute-turned-sex columnist
• Ashley Force (born 1982), American drag racer
• Ashley Greene (born 1987), American actress
• Ashley Harkleroad (born 1985), American tennis player
• Ashley Jensen (born 1969), British actress
• Ashley Judd (born 1968 as Ashley Tyler Ciminella), American actress
• Ashley Leggat (born 1986), Canadian actress
• Ashley Massaro (born 1979), WWE Diva for the Raw brand.
• Ashley Monroe (born 1986), American singer-songwriter
• Ashley Olsen (born 1986), American actress and businesswoman
• Ashley Paris (born 1987), American basketball player
• Ashley Roberts (born 1981), a pop singer with the band Pussycat Dolls
• Ashley Simmons (born 1986), American professional wrestler also known as Ashley Lane and best known as Madison Rayne
• Ashley Slanina-Davies (born 1989), British actress
• Ashley Smith (born 1978), the hostage held by Brian Nichols
• Ashley Spalding (born 1980), real name of porn star Kaylani Lei
• Ashley Tisdale (born 1985), American singer and actress
• Ashley Wagner (born 1991), American figure skater
• Ashley Whitney (born 1979), American freestyle swimmer
• Ashley Williams (born 1978), American actress
• Ashley X (born 1997), the pillow angel from Seattle, the subject of the Ashley Treatment

First name, male

• Ashley Ambrose (born 1970), American football player
• Ashley Callus (born 1979), Australian swimmer
• Ashley Carrington, (pseudonym of German writer Rainer M. Schröder)
• Ashley Cole (born 1980), English footballer
• Ashley Cooper (born 1936), Australian tennis player
• Ashley Taylor Dawson (born 1982), British actor
• Ashley Fisher (born 1975), Australian tennis player
• Ashley Giles (born 1973), English cricketer
• Ashley Hames (born 1970), English television presenter
• Ashley Horne (born 1989), English musician/comedian and member of the group The Midnight Beast
• Ashley Hutchings (born 1945), British folk musician
• Ashley Johnson (born 1986), South African rugby player
• Ashley Jones (born 1980), real name of American music producer Treasure Fingers
• Ashley Lelie (born 1980), American football player
• Ashley MacIsaac (born 1975), Canadian professional fiddler
• Ashley Montagu (1905–1999), British anthropologist and humanist
• Ashley Slater (born 1961), British musician
• Ashley Wood (born 1971), Australian comic book and concept artist
• Ashley Young (born 1985), Manchester United and England striker

First name, variant spellings

• Ashlie Atkinson (born 1977), American actress
• Ashleigh Banfield (born 1967), Canadian-American journalist
• Ashleigh Brilliant (born 1933), British author and cartoonist
• Ashleigh Brewer (born 1990), Australian actress
• Ashlynn Brooke (born 1985), American pornographic actress
• Ashly DelGrosso (born 1982), American professional dancer
• Ashlee Holland (born 1979), American actress, dancer and model
• Ashleigh Aston Moore (1981–2007), Canadian actress
• Ashlee Simpson (born 1984), American pop/rock singer and actress
• Ashlee Vance (born 1977), American business columnist

Surname

• Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley (1836–1907), English writer and politician
• Sir Bernard Ashley (1926–2009), Welsh businessman/engineer and former widower of Laura Ashley
• Elizabeth Ashley (born 1939), American actress
• Henry Ashley (1778-1829), US congressman from New York
• 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 (born 1954), British journalist
• John Ashley (actor) (1934 – 1997), American actor
• John Ashley (ice hockey) (1930 – 2008), Canadian ice hockey referee
• Karan Ashley (born 1975), American actress
• Laura Ashley (1925–1985), British designer
• Liam Ashley (died 2006), New Zealand teenager murdered in a prison van
• Maurice Ashley (historian) (1907–1994), editor
• Maurice Ashley (born 1966), American chess grandmaster
• Merrill Ashley (living), former New York City Ballet principal dancer
• Robert Ashley (born 1930), American composer
• Syd Ashley (1880–1959), South African rugby union player
• Thomas W. L. Ashley (born 1923), American politician
• Sir William Ashley (1860–1927), Economic historian
• William Henry Ashley (1785-1839), American fur trader, entrepreneur and politician

Animals

• Ashley Whippet (c. 1971–1985), the first famous disc dog

In fiction

• Ashley, a character in the Wario (series) video game series
• List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters#Ashley Banks, a sitcom character
• Ashley Robbins, a video game heroine
• Ashley Wilkes, a central character from the novel Gone With the Wind
• Ask Ashley, a comedy skit appearing on Nickelodeon's All That
• Ash Williams, the hero of the Evil Dead film series
• Ashley Peacock, a character from Coronation Street
• Characters of the Mass Effect universe#Ashley Williams, a soldier in the Mass Effect series of video games
• Ashley Abbott, a character on the America soap opera The Young and the Restless
• Ashley Kerwin, from Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Ashley Marin, from Pretty Little Liars
• Ashley Spinelli, one of six main characters in TV show Recess

Popularity of the female name Ashley in the United States

Year of birth	Rank
2011	1
2010	6
2009	8
2008	9
2007	13
2006	12
2005	10
2004	8
2003	8
2002	6
2001	4
2000	4
1999	6

See Also

• Aisling (given name), from Irish (Gaelic); Template:Pron-en ASH-lin) or /ˈæʃliːn/ ASH-leen)
• Leigh, Old English for "a woodland clearing"
• Lee (given name) (see also Lee, surname)