Ashley

Ashley derives from the Old English elements æsc, meaning ash tree, and lēah, meaning woodland clearing or meadow, originally used as a surname and place name in England. It was transferred to use as a masculine given name in the nineteenth century, then shifted predominantly to feminine use in English-speaking countries during the latter twentieth century, partly popularized by the character Ashley Wilkes in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. The name shares its root elements with related place-derived surnames and given names such as Ashton and Ashford.