Ashley

Ashley is an English surname-turned-given name derived from the Old English elements æsc, meaning ash tree, and lēah, meaning woodland clearing or meadow, so the name originally described someone who lived near a clearing where ash trees grew. It was used as a masculine given name for centuries before shifting predominantly to feminine use in English-speaking countries during the latter half of the twentieth century, a transition accelerated in the United States partly by the popularity of the character Ashley Wilkes in the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. The name shares its Old English roots with similar place-name-derived surnames and given names such as Ashleigh, Ashlee, and Ashlyn.