Henley
Masculine · “high clearing”
Henley is given to both — 1,547 boys and 6,725 girls since 1880. See Henley as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Henley is the high clearing — the Old English heah and leah — and Henley-on-Thames has held its regatta since 1839.
How old is the name Henley?
Henley first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Henley is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,400 people named Henley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Henley most popular?
Henley peaked in 2015, reaching #1555 nationally. Today it ranks #2183, 628 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From heah leah to Henley
The story of Henley
Henley-on-Thames has hosted its regatta since 1839, and the town's name is the high clearing. Several other English villages carry it. The surname produced an American given name for both sexes in the 2010s, and Henley appears in the registers in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
high clearing
From the Old English heah, 'high', and leah, 'wood' or 'clearing'. A second reading takes the first element as henn, 'hen' or wild bird. Several English places are Henley. The leah element is settled; the first is not fully.
How the name formed
- heah leah
- Henley
Related forms: Henly · Henleigh
Pronouncing Henley
HEN-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Henley
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 2015104 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1555reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −24.4%65 in 2025, from 86
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.
Henley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Henly in English — spelling variant
- Henleigh in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Tennessee.
Henleys among us
people named Henley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 26,278 born in 2025 was named Henley
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 Cortland test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Henley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cortland climbed just as high around 1991, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cortland's path sketches the road Henley is walking now.
Henley 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 Henley is headed
Henley should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Henley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Henley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The high-clearing meaning is concrete and belongs to real English places.
- Lee is available as a short form with an enormous record.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- It is a shirt style as well as a place name.
- It is used for both sexes in America.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Henley
Masculine · #2183 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Henleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Henley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Henley in 2025?
- Henley ranks #2183 among US boy names in 2025, with 65 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Henley?
- About 1 in every 26,278 US boys born in 2025 was named Henley — 65 in all.
- Will my child share the name Henley with classmates?
- Henley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Henley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eastyn#2183 · Carsen#2183 · Cylas#2183 · Fynn#2183 · Lyndon#2183 · Chet#2183 · Buckley#2183 · Matheus#2183
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Henley? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Henley and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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