Ainslie
Feminine · “Old English”
Ainslie is a Scottish surname from an English place, and its spelling records a real distinction. The -lie ending is Scottish; -ley is English; -ly is American. All three are said the same way, but a Scot writing the family name writes Ainslie, and that is the spelling the girls' name inherited.
How old is the name Ainslie?
Ainslie first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Ainslie alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 600 people named Ainslie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ainslie most popular?
Ainslie peaked in 2009, reaching #3870 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 3,263 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Annesley to Ainslie
The story of Ainslie
Norman and English families moved north into Scotland after the twelfth century and took their place-based surnames with them, which is why so many Scottish surnames name English villages. Ainslie became a well-established Borders family name. Its move into given-name use follows the general pattern of Scottish surnames for girls — Ainslie, Blair, Lesley, Elspeth — and its 2009 American peak sits alongside Ainsley, the more common English spelling, which peaked in the same decade. The two are one name with a national spelling difference.
Meaningscholars disagree
Old English, roughly "Ann's clearing" or "hermitage clearing"
The surname derives from Annesley or Ansley in Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire. The second element is leah, an Old English woodland clearing, which is certain. The first is disputed: proposals include a personal name Ān, the word ānsetl for a hermitage, and a word for a single or solitary place. The clearing is settled; what stood in it is not.
How the name formed
- Annesley
- Ainslie
Related forms: Ainsley · Annesley
Pronouncing Ainslie
AYNZ-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the s voiced to a Z. Ainslie, Ainsley and Ainsly are identical in speech; only the last letters differ.
Nicknames for Ainslie
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1977
- Most girls named
- 200940 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3870reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −16.7%15 in 2025, from 18
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ainslie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ainsley in English — spelling variant
- Annesley in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Illinois.
Ainslies among us
people named Ainslie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Ainslie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Clark test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ainslie's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Clark climbed just as high around 1918, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Clark's path sketches the road Ainslie is walking now.
Ainslie sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Ainslie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ainslie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a documented Scottish and English history rather than an invented one.
- The sound is soft and current without being a recent coinage.
- It works for both sexes, with a female skew in America.
- Ainsley is the more common American spelling and will be written by default.
- The first element's meaning is genuinely unresolved.
- It reads as a surname to British ears.
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Ainslie
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ainslies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Ainslie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ainslie in 2025?
- Ainslie ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ainslie?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Ainslie — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ainslie with classmates?
- Ainslie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ainslie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ainslie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ainslie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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