# Hadley (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/hadley/  
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 | English |
| Meaning | “heath”, “woodland clearing” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhædli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Adley, Hadlee, Hadleigh |
| US babies named this | 48,691 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,096 / 46,595 (96% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,793, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English hǣþ (“heath”) + Old English leah (“woodland clearing”). Equivalent to heath (compare Heath) + -ley.

## 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 | 1,759 | 178 |
| 2012 | 2,419 | 131 |
| 2013 | 2,830 | 110 |
| 2014 | 3,015 | 100 |
| 2015 | 2,975 | 103 |
| 2016 | 2,888 | 108 |
| 2017 | 2,710 | 112 |
| 2018 | 2,873 | 104 |
| 2019 | 2,574 | 112 |
| 2020 | 2,424 | 111 |
| 2021 | 2,478 | 112 |
| 2022 | 2,543 | 112 |
| 2023 | 2,312 | 119 |
| 2024 | 2,384 | 115 |
| 2025 | 2,254 | 121 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 48 | 2,559 |
| 2012 | 49 | 2,532 |
| 2013 | 32 | 3,361 |
| 2014 | 45 | 2,680 |
| 2015 | 37 | 3,105 |
| 2016 | 33 | 3,385 |
| 2017 | 35 | 3,266 |
| 2018 | 37 | 3,126 |
| 2019 | 32 | 3,518 |
| 2020 | 31 | 3,520 |
| 2021 | 25 | 4,151 |
| 2022 | 24 | 4,346 |
| 2023 | 31 | 3,655 |
| 2024 | 21 | 4,759 |
| 2025 | 12 | 6,938 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 10 | 2,432 |
| 2012 | 18 | 1,649 |
| 2013 | 18 | 1,639 |
| 2014 | 26 | 1,272 |
| 2015 | 27 | 1,240 |
| 2016 | 23 | 1,416 |
| 2017 | 29 | 1,184 |
| 2018 | 39 | 936 |
| 2019 | 30 | 1,119 |
| 2020 | 38 | 928 |
| 2021 | 30 | 1,128 |
| 2022 | 26 | 1,245 |
| 2023 | 23 | 1,371 |
| 2024 | 38 | 934 |
| 2025 | 35 | 983 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 47 | 681 |
| 2012 | 50 | 671 |
| 2013 | 52 | 647 |
| 2014 | 58 | 605 |
| 2015 | 53 | 646 |
| 2016 | 83 | 486 |
| 2017 | 75 | 522 |
| 2018 | 97 | 433 |
| 2019 | 84 | 476 |
| 2020 | 70 | 535 |
| 2021 | 89 | 461 |
| 2022 | 63 | 592 |
| 2023 | 58 | 614 |
| 2024 | 56 | 664 |
| 2025 | 56 | 650 |

## People named Hadley

- James Hadley Chase, British writer (1906–1985)
- Hadley Richardson, first wife of author Ernest Hemingway (1891–1979)
- Hadley Fraser, British actor
- Hadley Freeman, American-British journalist
- Hadley Robinson, American actress
- Hadley Caliman, American saxophonist (1932-2010)
- Albert Hadley Cantril Jr., American psychologist (1906-1969)
- Felicity Jones, British actress (born 1983)
- Mariel Hemingway, American actress and author
- James H. Billington, 13th Librarian of Congress (1929–2018)

## 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.