Hadley

What Hadley means

Means “heath + woodland clearing”

From Old English hǣþ (“heath”) + Old English leah (“woodland clearing”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Hadley” (revision 92415113), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Hadley?

US: Falling: down from #103 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #1240 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2018, when 2,873 girls got the name (#104 that year). First in the US records in 1964.

How common

• About 1 in 713 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 7,237 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MT (8.85 per 1,000 girls), VT (8.21 per 1,000 girls), WY (6.17 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Hadley is #121 in the US and #983 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.5% of US babies named Hadley were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Hadlee281 US
• Hadeel20 US · 5 E&W
• Hatley7 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Hadley

Girls

• Harper#16From a surname for “a player of the harp”^*
• Kinsley#93“Royal (a man's name) + s + woodland clearing”^*
• Kensley#741Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1987, with 8 babies
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*
• Evelyn#8Same root as Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*

For a brother

• Easton#110“east + settlement”^*
• Ryker#182Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #182 vs #1,066 in 2025
• Grayson#51“steward”^*
• Nolan#65“descendant of Nuallán”^*
• Greyson#149Variant of Grayson, meaning “steward”^*
• Hudson#17Editor’s note Up from #65 in 2015 to #17 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 200 US boys in the 2025 records

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Hadley’s. Rank is US 2025.