# Ashley (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/ashley/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English derived from the places in England.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 38,499 |
| US rank (2010) | 900 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,020 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.0% (37,021 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈæʃli/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Ashlee, Ashleigh, Ashlie, Ashly |

## Etymology

From Old English *Æsċlēah, composed of æsċ (“ash tree”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to Ash + -ley.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Ashley in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 21% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Ashley in the United States, the United Kingdom and Austria.

## People named Ashley

- Elizabeth Ashley, American actress
- Kaitlyn Ashley, American pornographic actress
- Karan Ashley, American actress
- Robert Ashley, American composer (1930–2014)
- William Henry Ashley, American politician (1778-1838)
- Maurice Ashley, American chess grandmaster
- William James Ashley, British economic historian (1860–1927)
- John Ashley, American actor, producer and singer (1934-1997)
- Clifford Warren Ashley, American artist, author, sailor, and knot expert (1881-1947)
- Chester Ashley, American politician (1790-1848)
- James Mitchell Ashley, American politician (1824-1896)
- Clarence Ashley, American musician (1895–1967)

and 6 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Atchley, Ackley, Aguila, Agcaoili, Axel, Agolli, Akeley.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.