Oakley

What Oakley means

Means “oak + woodland clearing, glade”

From Old English Āclēa, from āc (“oak”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”), thus a clearing in an oak forest; equivalent to oak +‎ -ley (“lea”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Oakley” (revision 93937454), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Oakley?

US: Rising: up from #567 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #166 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 804 boys got the name (#396 that year). First in the US records in 1884.

How common

• About 1 in 2,483 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 197 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 322 baby boys 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 ME (2.08 per 1,000 boys), NH (2.0 per 1,000 boys), SD (1.82 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Oakley is #454 in the US and #33 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 73.8% of US babies named Oakley were girls.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Oaklee75 US · 13 E&W
• Oakly0 US · 3 E&W

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 Oakley

Boys

• Jensen#282Editor’s note Up from #395 in 2015 to #282 in 2025 in the US
• Remington#307“settlement by the boundary stream”^*
• Hayes#162“brushwood”^*
• Emmett#121Diminutive of Emma, meaning “entire”^*
• Ford#474Editor’s note Up from #741 in 2015 to #474 in 2025 in the US
• Fletcher#545“arrow-maker”^*

For a sister

• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*
• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*

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 Oakley’s. Rank is US 2025.