# Farley (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/farley/  
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 | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “fern”, “woodland”, “lea” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɑɹli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Farleigh |
| US babies named this | 1,097 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,080 / 17 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 221, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English fearn (“fern”) + lēah (“woodland”). Equivalent to fern + -ley (“lea”) and doublet of Farnley.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 5 | 9,183 |
| 1978 | 5 | 10,244 |
| 2024 | 7 | 12,599 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 6 | 5,737 |
| 1982 | 12 | 3,548 |
| 1983 | 7 | 5,099 |
| 1984 | 9 | 4,315 |
| 1985 | 6 | 6,029 |
| 1986 | 8 | 5,015 |
| 1987 | 6 | 6,372 |
| 1988 | 6 | 6,683 |
| 1989 | 8 | 5,821 |
| 1990 | 13 | 4,248 |
| 1991 | 6 | 7,576 |
| 2011 | 5 | 12,900 |
| 2020 | 5 | 12,661 |
| 2022 | 6 | 11,307 |
| 2024 | 10 | 7,944 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 4 | 4,684 |
| 2021 | 3 | 5,581 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4,843 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 2,194 |
| 2012 | 16 | 1,507 |
| 2013 | 12 | 1,796 |
| 2014 | 9 | 2,248 |
| 2015 | 11 | 2,020 |
| 2016 | 10 | 2,175 |
| 2017 | 12 | 1,923 |
| 2018 | 9 | 2,259 |
| 2019 | 7 | 2,728 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,228 |
| 2021 | 6 | 3,017 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2,755 |
| 2023 | 5 | 3,523 |
| 2024 | 11 | 2,088 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2,440 |

## People named Farley

- Farley Granger, American actor (1925–2011)
- Farley Mowat, Canadian writer and environmentalist (1921–2014)

## 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.