Amberley
Feminine · “Arabic anbar”
Amber and ambergris were confused for centuries and they could not be more different. Arabic anbar named ambergris, a waxy substance from a sperm whale's gut used in perfume; European traders applied the word to fossil tree resin as well, and the languages have been sorting the two out ever since.
How old is the name Amberley?
Amberley first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Amberley alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 800 people named Amberley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Amberley most popular?
Amberley peaked in 1987, reaching #3169 nationally. Today it ranks #8362, 5,193 places below that high. See the whole 1987 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From anbar to Amberley
The story of Amberley
Ambergris was one of the most valuable substances in the medieval world and nobody knew where it came from. It was found floating at sea or washed up on beaches, it fixed and deepened perfume in a way nothing else did, and theories about its origin included solidified sea foam, bird droppings, a fungus and dragon spittle. That it forms in the digestive tract of sperm whales around indigestible squid beaks was not established until whaling made the connection unavoidable. Amber, the fossil resin, was equally prized and equally mysterious, and the two shared a name because both arrived on beaches from the sea. Once the confusion was noticed, French added a color word to each, and English resolved it differently, keeping amber for the resin and borrowing the French phrase whole for the other.
Meaning
Arabic anbar, ambergris, with Old English leah
Amber comes through Old French ambre from Arabic anbar, which named ambergris, a substance produced in the intestine of the sperm whale and used in perfumery. The word was extended to the fossil resin, and European languages then needed to distinguish them: French says ambre gris, grey amber, for the whale product and ambre jaune, yellow amber, for the resin. Amberley joins the word to leah, a clearing. It peaks in 1987.
How the name formed
- anbar
- ambre
- Amber
- Amberley
Related forms: Amberly
Pronouncing Amberley
AM-ber-lee
Three syllables, stress on the first. Amberley and Amberly are homophones. There is a village of the name in Sussex, which is where the compound originally comes from.
Nicknames for Amberley
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 201942 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3169reached in 1987
- Change vs 2024
- −20.0%12 in 2025, from 15
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.
Amberley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Amberly in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Amberleys among us
people named Amberley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 133,939 born in 2025 was named Amberley
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 Cammi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Amberley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cammi climbed just as high around 1968, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cammi's path sketches the road Amberley is walking now.
Amberley 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
Amberley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Amberley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Amber is a complete and familiar short form.
- Both elements have documented and interesting histories.
- The rhythm is even and easy to say.
- Amberly and Amberlee are competing spellings.
- It is a longer version of a name that stands perfectly well alone.
- The name is dated to the 1980s and 1990s.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Amberley to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Amberley? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Amberley
Feminine · #8362 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Amberleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Amberley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Amberley in 2025?
- Amberley ranks #8362 among US girl names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Amberley?
- About 1 in every 133,939 US girls born in 2025 was named Amberley — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Amberley with classmates?
- Amberley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Amberley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lona#8362 · Peggy#8362 · Leda#8362 · Margarette#8362 · Rella#8362 · Evalena#8362 · Vashti#8362 · Nona#8362
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Amberley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Amberley and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle