# Ainsley (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ainsley/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “alone”, “solitary”, “hermitage”, “woodland”, “clearing” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪnzli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Ainslie, Ansley, Annesley, Ainslee |
| US babies named this | 20,896 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 426 / 20,470 (98% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 382, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Habitational surname for someone from Annesley, Nottinghamshire or Ansley, Warwickshire, both from Old English anne (“alone, solitary”) or ānsetl (“hermitage”) + lēah (“woodland, clearing”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 891 | 363 |
| 2012 | 930 | 341 |
| 2013 | 974 | 332 |
| 2014 | 1,001 | 337 |
| 2015 | 967 | 338 |
| 2016 | 970 | 344 |
| 2017 | 902 | 352 |
| 2018 | 774 | 399 |
| 2019 | 654 | 478 |
| 2020 | 872 | 355 |
| 2021 | 845 | 364 |
| 2022 | 622 | 507 |
| 2023 | 498 | 598 |
| 2024 | 399 | 704 |
| 2025 | 621 | 483 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8 | 9,010 |
| 2010 | 5 | 12,288 |
| 2011 | 14 | 5,956 |
| 2012 | 15 | 5,726 |
| 2013 | 11 | 7,037 |
| 2014 | 12 | 6,642 |
| 2015 | 17 | 5,296 |
| 2016 | 14 | 6,059 |
| 2017 | 11 | 7,107 |
| 2018 | 6 | 10,806 |
| 2020 | 10 | 7,515 |
| 2021 | 9 | 8,188 |
| 2022 | 11 | 7,281 |
| 2023 | 9 | 8,285 |
| 2025 | 8 | 8,935 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3 | 3,848 |
| 1999 | 5 | 2,770 |
| 2006 | 4 | 4,157 |
| 2008 | 4 | 4,524 |
| 2009 | 3 | 5,556 |
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2014 | 7 | 3,160 |
| 2015 | 3 | 5,730 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2019 | 3 | 5,591 |
| 2021 | 9 | 2,711 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3,148 |
| 2023 | 8 | 2,927 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4,192 |
| 2025 | 11 | 2,440 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 8 | 2,211 |
| 2008 | 7 | 2,507 |
| 2009 | 6 | 2,837 |
| 2010 | 4 | 3,865 |
| 2011 | 5 | 3,300 |
| 2012 | 3 | 4,805 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,079 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4,023 |
| 2017 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2018 | 5 | 3,412 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,228 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 3 | 4,789 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3,523 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3,688 |

## People named Ainsley

- Ainsley Maitland-Niles, English association football player
- Ainsley Harriott, British cook, television personality, author
- Ainsley Bennett, British sprinter

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.