Atley
Derived from an English surname meaning "clearing or meadow by the river".
Name Census estimates that about 1,389 living Americans carry the first name Atley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Atley today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Atley births was 2019 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Atley. 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 Atley with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Atley sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Atley is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 246,763 Americans
Peak year
2019
105 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,385
Tracked since 1918
Census
Atley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,074 people with the first name Atley, which placed it at #11,785 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
#11,785
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,074 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Atley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Atley is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Atley 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 Atley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.0% · 956
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 38
- Two or more races3.5% · 38
- Black or African American2.2% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Atley
Atley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,430 total registrations, 605 (42.3%) were male and 825 (57.7%) were female.
Atley as a male name
- Ranked #4,431 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (44 births)
Atley as a female name
- Ranked #3,385 in 2024
- 46 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (80 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Atley on both sides of the split. Of the 1,074 people counted with this name, 504 were male (46.9%) and 570 were female (53.1%).
Popularity
Atley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Atley from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 726 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Atley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Atley 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 Atley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Atleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, Nebraska, Missouri recorded the most babies named Atley, while Maryland, Indiana, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Atley
The name Atley is believed to have originated from the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 11th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "æt" meaning "at" and "leah" meaning "a meadow or clearing." Thus, the name Atley likely referred to someone who lived near a clearing or meadow.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Atley can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of a great survey of landholders in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population of England prior to the Norman Conquest.
In the 12th century, an English nobleman named Atley de Wyndham was mentioned in historical records. He was a wealthy landowner and served as a knight under King Henry II. Another notable figure with the name Atley was Atley Bredwell, a 14th-century English monk and scholar who authored several works on theology and philosophy.
During the Renaissance period, Atley Smythe was a prominent merchant and diplomat from England who traveled extensively throughout Europe. He is known for his detailed accounts of his travels and his efforts to promote trade between England and other European nations.
In the 19th century, Atley Bevan was a Welsh industrialist and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the development of the coal mining industry in South Wales. He was also known for his support of educational initiatives and his efforts to improve the living conditions of miners and their families.
Another notable figure with the name Atley was Atley Townsend, an American soldier who served in the Civil War. He fought for the Union Army and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and valor on the battlefield.
While the name Atley may have originated from Old English roots, it has been used across various cultures and regions throughout history, with individuals bearing this name leaving their mark in various fields, from literature and philosophy to industry and military service.
People
Atley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Atley 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
Atley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Atley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,389 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Atley 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 246,763 US residents.
Is Atley a common name?
We classify Atley as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,430 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Atley most popular?
The single biggest year for Atley was 2019, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Atley is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Atley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,074 people with the name Atley, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,785 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 Atley 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 Atley?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Atley on both sides of the split. Of the 1,074 people counted with this name, 504 were male (46.9%) and 570 were female (53.1%). 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 Atley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Atley is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Atley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Atley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (956 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 Atley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Atley a female name?
Yes, 57.7% of people registered as Atley 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 Atley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Atley 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 Atley 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 common is the name Atley?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Atley at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.