Oakley
Oakley is a unisex name: 1,933 girls and 688 boys were given it in 2025 (#156 among girls’ names and #454 among boys’, #247 among all names counting both); 26,745 Americans have been recorded with it since 1884 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Girls have outnumbered boys among babies named Oakley every year since 2016.
An estimated 25,200 Americans named Oakley and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (94% of everyone recorded); the median is 5 years old and half are between 3 and 9.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Oakley by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Oakley mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Oakley is “a unisex given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “oak” (āc) and “woodland clearing, glade” (lēah) and “lea” (-ley).
From Old English Āclēa, from āc (“oak”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”), thus a clearing in an oak forest; equivalent to oak + -ley (“lea”). Compare Ackley, Akeley and Oakleigh, which have the same origin.
/ˈoʊkli/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Oakley?
#156 among girls’ names, 2025
Oakley rose from #614 in 2015 to #156 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.26 to 1.2 per 1,000.
2,692 babies in 2024, the peak
Oakley peaked in 2024, when 2,692 babies were given it (1,900 girls, #157 among girls’ names). The 2,621 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 97% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,933 | #156 | 688 | #454 |
| 2024 | 1,900 | #157 | 792 | #408 |
| 2023 | 1,884 | #153 | 804 | #396 |
| 2022 | 1,844 | #157 | 810 | #393 |
| 2021 | 1,538 | #193 | 773 | #403 |
| 2020 | 1,128 | #284 | 712 | #420 |
| 2019 | 908 | #349 | 690 | #442 |
| 2018 | 796 | #389 | 639 | #459 |
| 2017 | 658 | #475 | 615 | #479 |
| 2016 | 535 | #581 | 479 | #578 |
Every recorded year (133)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 471 | #614 | 496 | #567 |
| 2014 | 365 | #767 | 397 | #657 |
| 2013 | 274 | #928 | 291 | #771 |
| 2012 | 190 | #1,267 | 240 | #879 |
| 2011 | 157 | #1,445 | 196 | #994 |
| 2010 | 118 | #1,758 | 137 | #1,276 |
| 2009 | 92 | #2,178 | 139 | #1,270 |
| 2008 | 75 | #2,528 | 91 | #1,688 |
| 2007 | 61 | #2,959 | 72 | #1,969 |
| 2006 | 49 | #3,356 | 65 | #2,053 |
| 2005 | 41 | #3,628 | 65 | #1,957 |
| 2004 | 41 | #3,603 | 56 | #2,119 |
| 2003 | 30 | #4,386 | 59 | #1,974 |
| 2002 | 31 | #4,147 | 39 | #2,532 |
| 2001 | 18 | #6,241 | 50 | #2,103 |
| 2000 | 26 | #4,623 | 48 | #2,116 |
| 1999 | 21 | #5,155 | 37 | #2,440 |
| 1998 | 15 | #6,610 | 39 | #2,297 |
| 1997 | 16 | #6,087 | 33 | #2,480 |
| 1996 | 19 | #5,221 | 29 | #2,652 |
| 1995 | 12 | #7,383 | 28 | #2,663 |
| 1994 | 10 | #8,600 | 20 | #3,421 |
| 1993 | 10 | #8,515 | 26 | #2,751 |
| 1992 | 9 | #9,279 | 21 | #3,173 |
| 1991 | 12 | #7,269 | 13 | #4,401 |
| 1990 | under 5 | 18 | #3,414 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 9 | #5,468 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 9 | #5,088 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 9 | #4,842 | |
| 1985 | 5 | #11,922 | 6 | #6,292 |
| 1984 | under 5 | 6 | #6,104 | |
| 1983 | 6 | #9,851 | 6 | #6,010 |
| 1982 | under 5 | 10 | #4,149 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 10 | #4,062 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 15 | #3,060 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 10 | #3,991 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 5 | #6,557 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 5 | #6,217 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 9 | #3,851 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 7 | #4,487 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 7 | #4,381 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 11 | #3,095 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 10 | #3,210 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 8 | #3,505 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 9 | #3,032 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 7 | #3,458 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 5 | #4,361 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 11 | #2,578 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 9 | #2,997 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 15 | #2,164 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 10 | #2,836 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 9 | #3,019 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 11 | #2,622 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 10 | #2,759 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 15 | #2,162 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 11 | #2,597 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 9 | #2,914 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 12 | #2,398 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 11 | #2,493 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 14 | #2,131 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 14 | #2,117 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 27 | #1,415 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 12 | #2,302 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 16 | #1,922 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 16 | #1,969 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 27 | #1,371 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 16 | #1,744 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 17 | #1,718 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 22 | #1,515 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 17 | #1,782 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 15 | #1,875 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 21 | #1,511 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 17 | #1,695 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 19 | #1,601 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 23 | #1,434 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 15 | #1,860 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 34 | #1,141 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 28 | #1,285 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 24 | #1,397 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 27 | #1,350 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 26 | #1,382 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 31 | #1,296 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 27 | #1,401 | |
| 1928 | 5 | #5,242 | 39 | #1,141 |
| 1927 | under 5 | 38 | #1,171 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 28 | #1,397 | |
| 1925 | 7 | #4,322 | 43 | #1,064 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,889 | 38 | #1,182 |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,825 | 47 | #1,040 |
| 1922 | 5 | #5,579 | 36 | #1,214 |
| 1921 | under 5 | 46 | #1,041 | |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,824 | 52 | #964 |
| 1919 | under 5 | 52 | #935 | |
| 1918 | 6 | #4,679 | 41 | #1,074 |
| 1917 | under 5 | 50 | #904 | |
| 1916 | 8 | #3,470 | 40 | #1,023 |
| 1915 | under 5 | 43 | #956 | |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,499 | 27 | #1,121 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,739 | 36 | #797 |
| 1912 | under 5 | 23 | #961 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 12 | #1,026 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 13 | #916 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 9 | #1,061 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 7 | #1,187 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 6 | #1,294 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 5 | #1,371 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 9 | #898 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 7 | #1,035 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 5 | #1,252 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 12 | #675 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 8 | #832 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 6 | #1,270 | |
| 1899 | under 5 | 8 | #839 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 16 | #534 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 11 | #709 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 7 | #950 | |
| 1894 | under 5 | 7 | #926 | |
| 1893 | under 5 | 5 | #1,141 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 7 | #926 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 6 | #965 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 8 | #770 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 5 | #1,049 | |
| 1884 | under 5 | 9 | #689 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Oakley a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 26,745 Americans recorded as Oakley, 57% are girls and 43% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Oakley: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Oakley, and how old are they?
25,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 94% of the 26,745 Americans ever recorded as Oakley. The median Oakley alive today is 5 years old; half are between 3 and 9.
The 2020 Census counted 10,116 people named Oakley (4,926 women and girls, 5,190 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 11,079 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 69 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 156 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 105 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 292 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,320 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 22,300 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Oakley born?
The states with the most babies named Oakley are Texas, Ohio and California, with 17% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 165 | #275 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 153 | #72 | 1.3× |
| California | 126 | #363 | 0.3× |
| Tennessee | 117 | #79 | 1.5× |
| Michigan | 116 | #81 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 113 | #243 | 0.5× |
| North Carolina | 109 | #132 | 0.9× |
| Utah | 103 | #24 | 4.8× |
| Missouri | 97 | #81 | 1.4× |
| Indiana | 88 | #113 | 1.5× |
Where Oakley is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Oakley is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 4.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Oakley with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 34,355 babies since 1880, Oakley is the most given (78% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,621 of their 3,339 babies (78%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Oakley
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Oakley and names like it
- Compare Oakley and OakleeBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sOakley peaked in 2024.
- Utah’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Oakley since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Oakley: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2024The year the most babies were named Oakley.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Oakley alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with OMost given first.