Ashley (name)

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For other uses, see Ashley (disambiguation).

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. [citation needed]

The origins of the name come from an ancient Anglo-Saxon legend wherein a lovely young woman was kidnapped by an ogre and imprisoned in an ash tree. Over the years, the tree took on the form of the woman. Her name long since forgotten, she is now only remembered as "Ashley". The fabled tree is located in Devonshire, UK.

In United Kingdom Ashley is a unisex 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[citation needed]:

  • Ashleigh
  • Ashlee
  • Ashly
  • Ashlley
  • Asheley
  • Ashley
  • Ashlea
  • Ashalea
  • Ashlie
  • Ashli

Famous bearers of this name include:

As a given name:

As a surname:

As a variant of the name Ashley:

The name Ashley also appears in literature and popular culture.

[edit] See also

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