Girl, also used for boys, especially in Britain · Old English (surname from a place name) · International
Ainsley
AinsleySay it AYNZ-lee
- Meaning today
- One's own meadow, solitary clearing, hermitage
- Original meaning
- "An's clearing, or hermitage clearing: from Annesley or Ansley" English Place-Name Society, s.v. Annesley
- Say it
- AYNZ-lee
- Other spellings
- Ainslee, Aynsley
Ainsley
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Ainsley meaning
Ainsley is an international girl's name of Old English origin (surname from a place name), also used for boys, especially in Britain.
Meaning today
One's own meadow, solitary clearing, hermitage
Original Old English (surname from a place name) meaning
"An's clearing, or hermitage clearing: from Annesley or Ansley"
Source: English Place-Name Society, Survey of English Place-Names (Nottinghamshire), s.v. Annesley · entry Annesley · See the entry · checked 27 Oct 2026
Ainsley is an English and Scottish surname taken from a place name. The English Place-Name Society explains Annesley in Nottinghamshire, written Aneslei in the Domesday Book of 1086, as probably "An's clearing", joining a man's name An with Old English lēah, a woodland clearing or meadow. Another source is Ansley in Warwickshire, which the Dictionary of American Family Names derives from ānsetl, "hermitage", and lēah. Name lists often give "one's own meadow", which neither source supports. In America it is mostly a girl's name; in Britain it is also a boy's name, as with the chef Ainsley Harriott. It is said AYNZ-lee.
References: English Place-Name Society, Annesley (Nottinghamshire) · Bosworth-Toller, leáh · Dictionary of American Family Names, Ainsley (Geneanet)
Famous namesakes
- Ainsley Harriott, British television chef
Popularity abroad
- #483 United States, girls 2025 (up 221 from 704 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Ainsley · Ainslee · Aynsley