“ashley”*the unisex first name*

*RELATIVES*

*FAMOUS ASHLEYS*

*FICTIONAL ASHLEYS*

/ˈæʃli/

(the name “ashley” is of ‘english origin’, from a ‘place name’ + ‘surname’ from the ‘old english’ words ‘æsc’ (‘ash’) and ‘lēah’ (‘meadow’ / ‘forest clearing’))

(as a ‘given name’ (like most ‘surnames’ turned into ‘first names’, “ashley” was originally used only for ‘male children’)

(it was first recorded as a ‘male given first / middle name’ in the ‘1500s’ and remained exclusively ‘male’ until around ‘350 years later’)

(it was popularized by ‘anthony ashley cooper’ (‘1st earl of shaftesbury’ / ‘1621’ – ‘1683’ (also known as ‘lord ashley’))

(uses of the boys’ name in popular culture are ‘ashley wilkes’ from 1939’s ‘gone with the wind’ + ‘ash williams’ (‘ashley james williams’) from the 1982 ‘film evil dead’)

(‘ashley’ in the ‘united kingdom’ (where it originated), is predominantly ‘male’, ranking at #40 in ‘1996’ for ‘boys’ and staying within the ‘top 100’ – ‘top 300’ male names given each year)

(‘ashleigh’ + ‘ashlee’ are the ‘spellings’ more often used for ‘females’)

(‘ashley’ gained immense popularity as a ‘female first name’ in the ‘united states’ in the ‘late 1900s’, out-ranking boys’ usage by the ‘1980s’ and reaching #1 for ‘girls’ usage’ in ‘1991’)

(its rise in popularity is attributed to the female soap opera character ‘ashley abbott’ on ‘the young and the restless’ in ‘1982’)

(“ashley” has not appeared in the ‘top american baby boy names’ since ‘1994’, but is still used 2% – 8% of the time depending on ‘year’)

(as with many names that achieve popularity, a number of spellings of “ashley” emerged)

(the “united states social security administration” has records of many different spellings (including ‘ashley’ / ‘ashleigh’ / ‘ashlee’ / ‘ashlie’ / ‘ashlyn’), and ‘foreign-looking variants’ such as “ashlé” (pseudo-french))

“ALTERNATE SPELLINGS” –>

(*start with ‘most common spelling”)
(is there an ‘international body’ monitoring ‘first names’)
(i’d rather start with ‘my preferred spelling’ and go from there)

‘IPA’ –>

/ˈɡʊstɑːv/

“DEFINITION”

“ETYMOLOGY”

*✨🏆✨“THE GOLD STANDARD(S)”✨🏆✨*

*RELATIVES*

*ALLIED FLOWERS* / *ALLIED POWERS*

*THE DAMNED* / *APOSTATES*

*FAMOUS (***PLURAL***)*

*FICTIONAL (***PLURAL***)*

*”SONGS FOR ‘—***SINGULAR***—’*

*NICKNAMES*