Greenleigh
A name of English origin meaning "green meadow" or "green clearing".
Name Census estimates that about 192 living Americans carry the first name Greenleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Greenleigh today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Greenleigh births was 2016 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Greenleigh. 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.
People living today
192
~ 1 in 1,785,179 Americans
Peak year
2016
17 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,006
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Greenleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Greenleigh from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Greenleigh 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 Greenleigh 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 Greenleigh
The given name Greenleigh is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the English-speaking world within the past few centuries. It appears to be a combination of the words "green" and "leigh," with "green" referring to the color and "leigh" being a common suffix in English place names derived from the Old English "leah," meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest.
While the name itself does not have any deep historical roots, its components have a rich linguistic heritage. The word "green" can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic "gronja-" and the Proto-Indo-European "ghre-," both related to the concept of growing and flourishing. The suffix "-leigh" has its origins in Old English place names like Leighton, Leigh-on-Sea, and Leigh, which were originally descriptive of the local geography.
There are no known records of the name Greenleigh appearing in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to the modern era. Its earliest documented use is likely from the late 19th or early 20th century, reflecting the growing trend of creating unique and nature-inspired names during that time period.
A few notable individuals who have carried the name Greenleigh include:
1. Greenleigh Arledge (1911-1992), an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1930s.
2. Greenleigh Muir (1892-1976), a Scottish-born American writer and journalist who wrote extensively about the American West.
3. Greenleigh Fairweather (1903-1988), a British artist and illustrator known for her botanical illustrations and paintings of rural landscapes.
4. Greenleigh Blythe (1872-1955), an English educator and headmaster who founded several prestigious boarding schools in the United Kingdom.
5. Greenleigh Pemberton (1865-1932), an American entrepreneur and businessman who established several successful mining and manufacturing companies in the western United States.
While these individuals may not be widely known, their names serve as examples of the historical use of the given name Greenleigh, reflecting its association with nature, creativity, and exploration.
People
Greenleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Greenleigh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Greenleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Greenleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 192 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Greenleigh 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 1,785,179 US residents.
Is Greenleigh a common name?
We classify Greenleigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 194 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Greenleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Greenleigh was 2016, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Greenleigh is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Greenleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Greenleigh 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.