Ashlee

Ashley is an English unisex given name, originally a place name and surname. It is derived from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) words æsc (ash) and lēah (meadow, forest clearing).

Ashley was originally used only for male children. It is a surname that turned into a first name. It was first recorded as a male given first/middle name in the 16th century and remained only male until around 350 years later. It was popularized by Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury 1621–1683 (also known as Lord Ashley). Uses of the boys' name in popular culture are Ashley Wilkes from 1939's Gone with the Wind and Ash Williams (Ashley Joanna Williams) from the 1981 film The Evil Dead.

Ashley in the United Kingdom remains predominantly male, ranking at #40 in 1996 for boys and staying within the top 100–300 male names given each year.

Ashleigh is the traditional spelling of the female form,with Ashley remaining traditionally male across the country. Although Ashley is sometimes used for British females, it has dropped off the top U.K. female name charts since 2011.

In the United States, Ashley gained popularity as a female first name in the late 20th century, outranking boys' usage by the 1980s and reaching #1 for girls' usage in 1991. Its rise in popularity is attributed to the female soap opera character Ashley Abbott on The Young and the Restless in 1982.

Ashley has not appeared in the top 1000 American baby boy names since 1994.

As with many names that achieve popularity, a number of spellings of Ashley emerged. The United States Social Security Administration has records of many different spellings, including Ashley, Ashleigh, Ashlee, Ashlie, Ashlyn, and foreign-looking variants such as Ashlé (pseudo-French), for example Ashlé Dawson.

First name, male

• Ashley Ambrose (born 1970), American football player
• Ashley Buchholz, Canadian musician and member of alternative/dance duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker
• Ashley Cain (born 1990), English ex-footballer
• Ashley Callus (born 1979), Australian swimmer
• Ashley Carrington, (pseudonym of German writer Rainer M. Schröder)
• Ashley Church (born 1964), New Zealand Property commentator
• Ashley Cole (born 1980), English footballer
• Ashley Cooper (tennis) (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 Hansen (born 1983), Australian rules footballer
• Ashley Hicks (born 1963), British architect
• Ashley Horne (born 1989), English musician/comedian and member of the group The Midnight Beast
• Ashley Hutchings (born 1945), British folk musician
• Ashley Johnson (rugby union) (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 McIntosh (born 1972), Australian rules footballer
• Ashley Montagu (1905–1999), British anthropologist and humanist
• Ashley Parker Angel (born 1981), American singer, songwriter and actor
• Ashley Purdy (1984), bassist and backing vocalist of the American rock band Black Veil Brides
• Ashley Remington, an American pro wrestler in Chikara
• Ashley Sampi (born 1983), Australian rules footballer
• Ashley Sexton (born 1987), British professional boxer
• Ashley Sheppard (born 1969), American football player
• Ashley Smith (born 1990), Australian rules footballer
• Ashley Slater (born 1961), British musician
• Ash Stymest (Ashley Stymest, born 1991), British Model, Songwriter
• Ashley Theophane (born 1980), British professional boxer
• Ashley Vincent (born 1985), English footballer
• Ashley Wallbridge (born 1988), English DJ, producer and remixer
• Ashley Walters (born 1982), British Actor
• Ashley Williams (boxer) (born 1991), Welsh professional soldier and heavyweight boxer
• Ashley Wood (born 1971), Australian comic book and concept artist
• Ashley Young (born 1985), English footballer
• Ashley Westwood (born 1990), English footballer
• Ashley Zukerman (born 1983), Australian actor

First name, female

• Ashley Argota (born 1993), American actress
• Ashley Audrain (born 1982), Canadian author
• Ashley Benson (born 1989), American actress
• Ashley Benton, American girl who killed Gabriel Granillo in 2006
• Ashley Black (born 1986), American cheerleader
• Ashley Blue (born 1981), American porn star
• Ashley Brown (soccer) (born 1994), Australian footballer
• Ashley Colon (born 1971), Puerto Rican merengue singer
• Ashley Dupree (born 1985), American prostitute-turned-sex columnist
• Ashley Eckstein (born 1981), American actress
• Ashley Ann Erickson (born 1985), real name of porn star Teagan Presley
• Ashley Fliehr (born 1986), American professional wrestler best known as Charlotte Flair
• Ashley Force Hood (born 1982), American drag racer
• Ashley Freiberg (born 1991), American racing driver
• Ashley Grace (born 1987), American singer-songwriter
• Ashley Graham (various people)
• Ashley Greene (born 1987), American actress
• Ashley Harkleroad (born 1985), American tennis player
• Ashley Horn, media personality
• Ashley Jensen (born 1969), British actress
• Ashley Johnson (born 1983), American actress and singer
• Ashley Judd (born 1968 as Ashley Tyler Ciminella), American actress
• Ashley Leggat (born 1986), Canadian actress
• Ashley Liao (born 2001), American actress
• Ashley Massaro (1979–2019), American professional wrestler and model
• Ashley Madekwe (born 1983), English actress
• Ashley Monroe (born 1986), American singer-songwriter
• Ashley Nee (born 1989), American slalom canoeist
• Ashley Olsen (born 1986), American actress and businesswoman
• Ashley Oubré (born 1984), American artist
• Ashley Paris (born 1987), American basketball player
• Ashley Peldon (born 1984), American actress
• Ashley Roberts (born 1981), pop singer with the band Pussycat Dolls
• Ashley Scott (born 1977), American actress and model
• 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, variant spellings

• Ashlie Atkinson (born 1977), American actress
• Ashleigh Ball (born 1983), Canadian voice actress and musician
• Ashleigh Banfield (born 1967), Canadian-American journalist
• Ashleigh Barty (born 1996), Australian professional tennis player
• Ashleigh Brilliant (born 1933), British author and cartoonist
• Ashleigh Brewer (born 1990), Australian actress
• Ashly Burch (born 1990), American actress, singer and writer
• Ashleigh Butler (born 1995), dancer in the Ashleigh and Pudsey act from Britain's Got Talent
• Ashlé Dawson (born 1984), American choreographer, director, and dancer
• Ashly DelGrosso (born 1982), American professional dancer
• Ashlee Evans-Smith (born 1987), American mixed martial artist
• Ashlee Holland (born 1979), American actress, dancer and model
• Ashleigh Aston Moore (1981–2007), Canadian actress
• Ashleigh Murray (born 1988), American actress and singer
• Ashlee Palmer (born 1986), American football linebacker
• Ashlee Marie Preston, American media personality, producer, and activist
• 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
• Benedict Ashley (1915–2013), American theologian and philosopher
• Bernard Ashley (1926–2009), British businessman and engineer, husband of Laura Ashley
• Bernard Ashley (born 1935), British author of children's books
• Charles S. Ashley (1858–1941), long-serving Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts
• Elizabeth Ashley (born 1939), American actress
• Helmut Ashley (born 1919), Austrian film director
• Henry Ashley (1778–1829), U.S. congressman from New York
• Ian Ashley (born 1947), former British Formula 1 race car driver
• Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke (1922–2012), British Life Peer and former Labour MP
• Jackie Ashley (born 1954), British journalist
• James Mitchell Ashley (1824–1896), U.S. congressman (Ohio), territorial governor (Montana)
• John Ashley (disambiguation), several people
• Laura Ashley (1925–1985), British designer
• Liam Ashley (died 2006), New Zealand teenager murdered in a prison van
• Lynn H. Ashley (1885–1974), American politician
• Maurice Ashley (historian) (1907–1994), editor
• Maurice Ashley (born 1966), American chess grandmaster
• Merrill Ashley (living), former New York City Ballet principal dancer
• Mike Ashley (disambiguation), several people
• Minnie Ashley (1881–1946), American actress, sculptor, and philanthropist
• Robert Ashley (born 1930), American composer
• Steve Ashley (born 1946), British singer-songwriter
• Syd Ashley (1880–1959), South African rugby union player
• Thomas W. L. Ashley (1923–2010), American politician
• William Ashley (disambiguation), several people

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

• Ashley, a character in the cartoon series School for Vampires
• Ashley, a character in the Warioware series
• Ashley Abbott, a character in the America soap opera The Young and the Restless
• Ashley Banks, a character in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Ashley Bernitz, an antagonist in the game Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
• Ashley Graham, a Resident Evil 4 character
• Ashley Hammond, a Power Rangers character
• Ashley Juergens, a character in the teen drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager
• Ashley Kerwin, a character in Canadian drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the Pokémon television series
• Ashley Magnus, a character in the science fiction-fantasy series Sanctuary
• Ashley Marin, a character in the teen drama Pretty Little Liars
• Ashley Peacock, a character from the British soap opera Coronation Street
• Ashley Riot, protagonist in the Vagrant Story video game
• Ashley Mizuki Robbins, heroine in the Another Code video game series
• Ashley Spinelli & The Ashleys, characters in the children's television series Recess
• Ashley Wilkes, central character in the 1936 novel Gone With the Wind
• Ash Williams, protagonist in the Evil Dead film series
• Ashley Williams (Mass Effect), female soldier in the Mass Effect video game series named after the Evil Dead character
• Ashley Winchester, the main character of role-playing video game Wild Arms 2
• Ask Ashley, comedy skit appearing on the Nickelodeon show All That