Arley
Feminine · “eagle clearing”
Arley is given to both — 898 girls and 3,648 boys since 1880. See Arley as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Arley is an English place name whose first element is an eagle — Worcestershire and Cheshire both have one, named for the birds seen there.
How old is the name Arley?
Arley first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Arley alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 800 people named Arley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arley most popular?
Arley peaked in 1884, reaching #930 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 3,242 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From earn leah to Arley
The story of Arley
Eagles were present in medieval England and place names record them — Arley, Earnley, Arnwood. The bird was gone from most of the country by the eighteenth century and the names outlasted it, which is a common pattern: English place names are full of wolves, beavers and cranes that have not been seen for centuries. The surname reached America and Arley appears as a given name for both sexes around 1890.
Meaningscholars disagree
eagle clearing
From Old English earn, an eagle, and leah, a clearing; the same first element gives Arnold and the German Arn- names. A separate reading takes the first element from a personal name, and different English Arleys may differ.
How the name formed
- earn leah
- Arley
Related forms: Arlee · Earnley
Pronouncing Arley
AR-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Arley
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
- 1884
- Most girls named
- 202136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #930reached in 1884
- Change vs 2024
- +3.0%34 in 2025, from 33
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.
Arley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arlee in English — spelling variant
- Earnley in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Arleys among us
people named Arley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Arley
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Arley 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
Where Arley is headed
Arley should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Arley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented place-name meaning with a real bird behind it.
- Lee is a plain short form that works at any age.
- Genuine turn-of-the-century American use behind it.
- It is used for both sexes, so forms may guess wrong.
- Arley, Arlee and Arlie are all in use and none is dominant.
- The first element is argued between an eagle and a personal name.
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What they receive
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Arley
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arleys 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 Arley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arley in 2025?
- Arley ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arley?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Arley — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arley with classmates?
- Arley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Neila#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arley and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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