# Morley (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/morley/  
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 | “moor”, “wood”, “lea” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 566 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 518 / 48 (8% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 101, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English mor (“moor”) + leah (“wood”). Equivalent to moor + -ley (“lea”).

## What it means

Morley is grouped under forest.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 7 | 4,308 |
| 2010 | 7 | 14,497 |
| 2011 | 5 | 18,704 |
| 2012 | 5 | 18,701 |
| 2014 | 5 | 18,404 |
| 2021 | 8 | 11,855 |
| 2022 | 5 | 16,986 |
| 2024 | 6 | 14,722 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1944 | 7 | 3,038 |
| 1945 | 8 | 2,696 |
| 1948 | 7 | 3,219 |
| 1949 | 6 | 3,585 |
| 1950 | 9 | 2,712 |
| 1952 | 8 | 3,027 |
| 1953 | 5 | 4,181 |
| 1955 | 6 | 3,763 |
| 1956 | 7 | 3,430 |
| 1960 | 6 | 3,930 |
| 1961 | 7 | 3,567 |
| 1964 | 5 | 4,437 |
| 1965 | 5 | 4,266 |
| 1978 | 5 | 6,460 |
| 2008 | 6 | 12,091 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 6 | 2,775 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,227 |
| 2010 | 3 | 4,678 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2012 | 8 | 2,458 |
| 2013 | 6 | 2,954 |
| 2014 | 7 | 2,690 |
| 2015 | 7 | 2,707 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |
| 2018 | 3 | 4,749 |
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,404 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3,684 |

## People named Morley

- Morley Safer, Canadian-American reporter and correspondent (1931-2016)
- Morley Griswold, American politician (1890–1951)
- Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (1903–1990)

## 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.