Ashelee
A feminine name of uncertain origins, possibly a variant of Ashley.
Name Census estimates that about 36 living Americans carry the first name Ashelee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ashelee today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashelee births was 1988 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashelee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ashelee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
36
~ 1 in 9,520,954 Americans
Peak year
1988
8 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1991 SSA rank
#10,362
Tracked since 1983
Popularity
Ashelee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashelee from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 31 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashelee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ashelee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashelee
The name Ashelee is a modern variant of the English name Ashley, which has its roots in the Old English personal name Æsclicc. The first part of this name, "Æsc," is derived from the Old English word for ash tree. The second part, "licc," means meadow or clearing.
This name was originally a surname, referring to someone who lived near an ash tree meadow or clearing. It gained popularity as a given name in the 16th century, initially as a masculine name. Over time, it transitioned into a predominantly feminine name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ashley can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named Asselinus, which is believed to be a variant of Ashley.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Ashley was Sir Matthew Ashley, an English politician and military leader who lived from 1548 to 1628. He served as a Member of Parliament and played a significant role in the English Civil War.
Another notable figure with the name Ashley was Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who lived from 1621 to 1683. He was a prominent English politician and philosopher during the reign of King Charles II.
In literature, the name Ashley is associated with Wilkie Collins' novel "The Moonstone," published in 1868. The character Rachel Verinder, one of the main protagonists, is often referred to as Miss Rachel Verinder or simply Miss Rachel.
The variant spelling Ashelee emerged in the late 20th century as a more feminine and unique version of the traditional Ashley. While there are no notable historical figures specifically with this spelling, it has gained popularity as a given name for girls in recent decades.
Overall, the name Ashelee, like its parent name Ashley, has its origins in Old English and carries associations with nature, particularly the ash tree. Its transition from a surname to a given name and its growing popularity as a feminine name reflect the evolving trends in naming practices over the centuries.
People
Ashelee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashelee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ashelee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashelee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 36 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashelee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 9,520,954 US residents.
Is Ashelee a common name?
We classify Ashelee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 38 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashelee most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashelee was 1988, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashelee is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ashelee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashelee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashelee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ashelee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashelee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ashelee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Ashelee?
Find out how many people have the name Ashelee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.