NameCensus.
Rare

Hartley

A masculine name of English origin meaning "stag meadow" or "deer clearing".

Name Census estimates that about 2,833 living Americans carry the first name Hartley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Hartley today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hartley births was 2024 (175 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Hartley. 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

  • Hartley started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
  • Hartley sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.

People living today

2.8K

~ 1 in 120,986 Americans

Peak year

2024

175 babies that year

Average age

19

years old

2024 SSA rank

#1,482

Tracked since 1892

Gender

Gender distribution for Hartley

Hartley is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,652 total registrations, 1,582 (43.3%) were male and 2,070 (56.7%) were female.

43% male
57% female
Male1,582 (43.3%)Female2,070 (56.7%)

Hartley as a male name

  • Ranked #3,906 in 2024
  • 28 male births in 2024
  • Peak: 1918 (36 births)

Hartley as a female name

  • Ranked #1,482 in 2024
  • 147 female births in 2024
  • Peak: 2024 (147 births)

Popularity

Hartley: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Hartley from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,407 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hartley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.

Babies born per year

MaleFemale
044881311751900192019401960198020002020

Decades

Hartley 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 Hartley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1890s21021
1900s26026
1910s1780178
1920s2700270
1930s2290229
1940s1870187
1950s98098
1960s74074
1970s22022
1980s271340
1990s6674140
2000s69169238
2010s1941,2131,407
2020s121601722

Geography

Where Hartleys live

The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Hartley, while Kansas, Indiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.

Origin

Meaning and history of Hartley

The name Hartley is an English name derived from the Old English words "heorot" meaning hart or stag, and "leah" meaning meadow or clearing. It originated as a surname in regions like Yorkshire, where the name referred to someone who lived near a meadow frequented by deer or stags.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Hartley can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a place name. The name gradually transitioned from a locational surname to a given name over the centuries.

In terms of historical figures bearing the name Hartley, one notable individual was David Hartley (1705-1757), an English philosopher and founder of the Associationist school of psychology. His work, "Observations on Man, his Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations," published in 1749, explored the association of ideas and the nature of human consciousness.

Another prominent figure was Jesse Hartley (1768-1849), an American lawyer and politician who served as the third Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1824 to 1828.

In the realm of literature, Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849), the eldest son of the famous poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was a writer and essayist in his own right. He published works such as "Biographia Borealis" and "Poems, Songs and Sonnets."

In the world of sports, Hartley Batey (1884-1964) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for clubs like Wolverhampton Wanderers and Preston North End in the early 20th century.

Lastly, Hartley Burr Alexander (1873-1939) was an American philosopher and educator who served as the president of Scripps College and the University of Missouri. He wrote several books on topics like metaphysics and ethics.

These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Hartley, illustrating its longevity and widespread usage across various fields.

People

Hartley + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Hartley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.

Related

Other names starting with H

Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.

FAQ

Hartley: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Hartley?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,833 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hartley 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 120,986 US residents.

Is Hartley a common name?

We classify Hartley as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,652 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Hartley most popular?

The single biggest year for Hartley was 2024, when 175 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hartley is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Hartley a female name?

Yes, 56.7% of people registered as Hartley 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.

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