Henly
English name derived from "hen" and "ley," referring to a farmstead with hens.
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Henly. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Henly today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Henly births was 2014 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Henly. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Henly. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
2014
7 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
1925 SSA rank
#4,521
Tracked since 1922
Gender
Gender distribution for Henly
Henly leans heavily female at 80.8% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Henly as a male name
- Ranked #4,521 in 1925
- 5 male births in 1925
- Peak: 1922 (5 births)
Henly as a female name
- Ranked #14,050 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2014 (7 births)
Popularity
Henly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Henly from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 23 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Henly 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 Henly 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 Henly
The name Henly is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "hean" meaning "high" or "lofty" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived in a high meadow or elevated clearing.
In terms of historical references, the name Henly does not appear to have been widely documented in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it is possible that variations of the name may have been used in early English and Germanic communities, reflecting the linguistic roots of the name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Henly can be found in the records of the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this document, there are references to individuals with the name Henlei or Henley, which may be related to the modern spelling of Henly.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Henly. One such person was Sir Walter Henly (c. 1500-1572), an English courtier and Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Another was John Henly (1692-1756), an English author and playwright who wrote several works, including the tragedy "The Tragedy of Chamont" and the comedy "The Stratagem."
In the realm of literature, the name Henly appears in the works of the English poet and dramatist John Dryden (1631-1700). In his poem "The Hind and the Panther," Dryden introduces a character named Henly who represents the Church of England.
Another notable bearer of the name was Robert Henly (1708-1768), an English architect and surveyor who worked on several important buildings in London, including the reconstruction of the Mansion House and the rebuilding of St. Mary's Church in Rotherhithe.
Finally, in the field of science, we can mention William Henly (1766-1835), an English electrician and instrument maker who made significant contributions to the study of electrostatics and the development of early electrical devices.
While the name Henly may not be as widely known as some other given names, it has a rich history rooted in the linguistic traditions of early English and Germanic cultures, and has been borne by notable individuals across various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Henly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Henly 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
Henly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Henly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Henly 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Henly a common name?
We classify Henly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Henly most popular?
The single biggest year for Henly was 2014, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Henly is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Henly a female name?
Yes, 80.8% of people registered as Henly 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.