Ashlea
Feminine form of "Ashley", a gender-neutral name of English origin meaning "ash tree meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 3,004 living Americans carry the first name Ashlea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ashlea today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashlea births was 1987 (200 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashlea. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ashlea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 114,099 Americans
Peak year
1987
200 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2013 SSA rank
#14,832
Tracked since 1967
Census
Ashlea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,055 people with the first name Ashlea, which placed it at #5,560 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,560
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,055 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashlea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashlea is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Hispanic (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ashlea described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ashlea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 2,459
- Black or African American8.2% · 249
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 172
- Two or more races4.5% · 136
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 16
Popularity
Ashlea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashlea from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,467 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
Ashlea 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 Ashlea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ashleas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Ashlea, while Oregon, Mississippi, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashlea
The name Ashlea is a modern variation of the name Ashley, which has its origins in the Old English language. The name Ashley is derived from the Old English words "æsc" meaning "ash tree" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." The combination of these words suggests that the name Ashley originally referred to a meadow where ash trees grew.
The name Ashley gained popularity in England during the Middle Ages, particularly after the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was initially used as a surname for people who lived near an ash tree meadow or as a place name for locations with similar geographical features. The earliest recorded use of the name Ashley as a given name dates back to the 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ashley was Sir Robert Ashley, a prominent English landowner and military commander who lived during the 14th century. He played a significant role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
In the 16th century, the name Ashley gained popularity as a given name for both males and females. One notable bearer of the name during this time was Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), an English politician and philosopher who was a prominent figure in the Whig movement.
The variation Ashlea emerged in the late 20th century as a more feminine spelling of the name Ashley. While its origin is uncertain, it is believed to have been influenced by the trend of creating more unique and distinctive names by altering the spelling of traditional names.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ashlea was Ashlea Welles, an American actress and model born in 1954. Another notable bearer of the name was Ashlea Ebeling, an American journalist and author who wrote extensively on personal finance and tax issues.
Other historical individuals with the name Ashlea include Ashlea Lansdell, an Australian author and playwright born in 1957, and Ashlea Earl, an American actress and model born in 1981. Additionally, Ashlea Brennan was an Australian cyclist who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
People
Ashlea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashlea 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
Ashlea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashlea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,004 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashlea 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 114,099 US residents.
Is Ashlea a common name?
We classify Ashlea as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashlea most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashlea was 1987, when 200 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashlea is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ashlea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,055 people with the name Ashlea, or 1.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,560 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ashlea in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ashlea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ashlea appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,055 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ashlea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashlea is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.2%) and Hispanic (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ashlea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ashlea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (2,459 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Ashlea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashlea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashlea 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 Ashlea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashlea 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 Ashlea 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.
How many people share the name Ashlea?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.