Whitley
Whitley was the 677th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 420 babies. Its best year was 1988, when it ranked 446th with 508 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 467 places. More babies were named Whitley in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning white clearing (English place name) · Old English
Say it WIT-lee /ˈwɪtli/
- Rank in 2025
- #677 girls, up 269 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 420girls
- Girls and boys
- 84% girls, 16% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 1988508 babies
- Total since 1880
- 8,991babies recorded
What does the name Whitley mean?
Whitley is an English place name and surname from Old English hwīt, white, and lēah, woodland clearing, so "white clearing," according to Wiktionary. There are several English places called Whitley, including a suburb of Reading and a village in North Yorkshire. As a given name it has been used in the US for boys since 1914 and for girls since 1984.
hwīt (Old English, “white”)lēah (Old English, “woodland clearing”)
How sure is this? Well established. Wiktionary only.
See also: English names, names that mean meadow, hill or valley, names that mean a color, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Whitley' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Whitley
The usual nicknames for Whitley are Whit.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whit · also for Whitney | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Whitleys go by each one.
Whitley popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #677 | #1,823 | 420 | 88 |
| 2020 | #946 | #3,133 | 271 | 37 |
| 2010 | #1,737 | #12,143 | 121 | 6 |
| 2000 | #1,704 | — | 104 | — |
| 1990 | #549 | #3,772 | 432 | 16 |
| 1980 | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — | — | — |
| 1960 | — | #4,579 | — | 5 |
| 1950 | — | — | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Whitley, counting every spelling?
Whitley is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #623 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #677 for Whitley on its own. Together these spellings went to 469 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitley | 420 | #677 | 1,856 |
| Whitlee | 49 | #3,247 | 253 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Whitley?
420 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Whitley (0.12 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Whitley born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 20 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Whitley.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Whitley?
About 8,000 people born in the US named Whitley are alive today, with a median age of 15; half are between 6 and 34. That makes Whitley mostly worn by children and young adults.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Whitley by state
How common Whitley was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Oklahoma (4.8×), Arkansas (4.4×), Kentucky (4.1×), Missouri (3.7×), Tennessee (3.3×). In 21 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Whitley: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Whitley, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Whitley · Sibling names for Whitley
Questions about the name Whitley
What does Whitley mean?
Whitley means “white clearing (English place name)” (Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Whitley?
Whitley was the 677th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 420 babies. Its best year was 1988, when it ranked 446th with 508 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 467 places. More babies were named Whitley in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Whitley a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 84% girls, 16% boys given the name Whitley in the US.
Where is Whitley most popular?
In 2021–2025, Whitley was most common in Oklahoma (1.09 per 1,000 girls), followed by Arkansas and Kentucky.