Ashlee
A feminine name of Old English origin meaning "ash tree meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 42,067 living Americans carry the first name Ashlee. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Ashlee today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashlee births was 1987 (2,478 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashlee. 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
- • Although Ashlee is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 258 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Ashlee have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
42K
~ 1 in 8,148 Americans
Peak year
1987
2,478 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2009 SSA rank
#4,114
Tracked since 1966
Gender
Gender distribution for Ashlee
Out of the 43,753 babies given the name Ashlee since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ashlee as a male name
- Ranked #9,952 in 2009
- 7 male births in 2009
- Peak: 1988 (16 births)
Ashlee as a female name
- Ranked #4,114 in 2024
- 35 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (2,466 births)
Popularity
Ashlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashlee from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 16,047 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashlee 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 Ashlee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ashlees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Ashlee, while Vermont, Delaware, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 819 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashlee
The name Ashlee is a modern English variant of the name Ashley, which originated as an English surname derived from the Old English words "æsc" meaning ash tree and "leah" meaning meadow or clearing. The name Ashley was likely adopted as a given name during the Middle Ages, initially referring to someone who lived near an ash tree meadow.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Ashley as a given name dates back to the 13th century. One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Ashley de Lovent, an English knight who lived during the reign of King Edward I in the late 13th century.
Throughout history, the name Ashley was predominantly used as a masculine name, but over time it also gained popularity as a feminine name. One of the earliest known women to bear the name was Ashley Wilkes, a fictional character from the novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, published in 1936.
Ashlee, with the alternative spelling, emerged as a distinct feminine variant of Ashley in the 20th century. One of the earliest known individuals with this spelling was Ashlee Gorton, an American actress born in 1968.
Other notable individuals named Ashlee include:
1. Ashlee Simpson, an American singer and actress born in 1984, best known for her albums "Autobiography" and "I Am Me."
2. Ashlee Baracy, an American ice hockey player born in 1988, who has represented the United States in several international competitions.
3. Ashlee Keating, an Australian model and television personality born in 1985, known for her appearances on reality shows like "The Big Adventure" and "The Celebrity Apprentice Australia."
4. Ashlee Margolis, an American actress born in 1989, known for her roles in television series such as "The Goldbergs" and "Modern Family."
5. Ashlee Anstadt, an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 2023.
While the name Ashlee has its origins in English language and culture, it has gained popularity across various regions and continues to be used as a feminine given name in modern times.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ashlee
People
Ashlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashlee 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
Ashlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42,067 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashlee 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 8,148 US residents.
Is Ashlee a common name?
We classify Ashlee as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43,753 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashlee was 1987, when 2,478 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashlee is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ashlee a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Ashlee 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.
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.