# Oakley (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/oakley/  
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 and girls |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “oak”, “woodland clearing”, “glade”, “lea” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈoʊkli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 26,745 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 11,385 / 15,360 (57% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 11,639, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English Āclēa, from āc (“oak”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”), thus a clearing in an oak forest; equivalent to oak + -ley (“lea”). Compare Ackley, Akeley and Oakleigh, which have the same origin.

## 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 | 157 | 1,445 |
| 2012 | 190 | 1,267 |
| 2013 | 274 | 928 |
| 2014 | 365 | 767 |
| 2015 | 471 | 614 |
| 2016 | 535 | 581 |
| 2017 | 658 | 475 |
| 2018 | 796 | 389 |
| 2019 | 908 | 349 |
| 2020 | 1,128 | 284 |
| 2021 | 1,538 | 193 |
| 2022 | 1,844 | 157 |
| 2023 | 1,884 | 153 |
| 2024 | 1,900 | 157 |
| 2025 | 1,933 | 156 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 196 | 994 |
| 2012 | 240 | 879 |
| 2013 | 291 | 771 |
| 2014 | 397 | 657 |
| 2015 | 496 | 567 |
| 2016 | 479 | 578 |
| 2017 | 615 | 479 |
| 2018 | 639 | 459 |
| 2019 | 690 | 442 |
| 2020 | 712 | 420 |
| 2021 | 773 | 403 |
| 2022 | 810 | 393 |
| 2023 | 804 | 396 |
| 2024 | 792 | 408 |
| 2025 | 688 | 454 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13 | 2,025 |
| 2012 | 12 | 2,215 |
| 2013 | 8 | 2,887 |
| 2014 | 12 | 2,203 |
| 2015 | 7 | 3,252 |
| 2016 | 12 | 2,233 |
| 2017 | 13 | 2,090 |
| 2018 | 24 | 1,343 |
| 2019 | 23 | 1,349 |
| 2020 | 35 | 969 |
| 2021 | 52 | 720 |
| 2022 | 66 | 586 |
| 2023 | 49 | 734 |
| 2024 | 52 | 722 |
| 2025 | 29 | 1,133 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 220 | 222 |
| 2012 | 247 | 217 |
| 2013 | 256 | 210 |
| 2014 | 303 | 186 |
| 2015 | 348 | 166 |
| 2016 | 445 | 134 |
| 2017 | 409 | 142 |
| 2018 | 500 | 120 |
| 2019 | 639 | 98 |
| 2020 | 697 | 82 |
| 2021 | 908 | 67 |
| 2022 | 1,048 | 56 |
| 2023 | 1,343 | 39 |
| 2024 | 1,432 | 34 |
| 2025 | 1,377 | 33 |

## People named Oakley

- Oakley Hall, American novelist
- Oakley C. Curtis, American politician (1865–1924)
- Central Cee, British rapper (born 1998)

## 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.