Hadley

Hadley meaning

Hadley is an international girl's name of Old English origin (surname from a place name), also used for boys.

Heath clearing (Old English hǣþ 'heath' + lēah 'clearing')

Also used to mean: heather field, meadow

Hadley is an English surname taken from places called Hadley or Hadleigh. The English Place-Name Society explains Hadleigh in Essex, recorded around the year 1000 as Hæþlege, as "heath clearing". Its first part is Old English hǣþ, which Bosworth-Toller's dictionary gives as open, uncultivated heathland and also the plant heather; the second is lēah, a woodland clearing or meadow, the same ending as in Everly and Hailey. A well-known bearer was Hadley Richardson, the first wife of the writer Ernest Hemingway. As a first name it has a fresh, outdoorsy sound and is easy to spell.

Source: English Place-Name Society, Survey of English Place-Names (Essex), s.v. Hadleigh · entry Hadleigh · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: English Place-Name Society, Hadleigh (Essex) · Bosworth-Toller, hǽþ · Bosworth-Toller, leáh · Wikipedia, Hadley Richardson

Famous namesakes

• Hadley Richardson, first wife of Ernest Hemingway

Popularity abroad

• #121 United States, girls 2025 (down 6 from 115 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #983 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Hadley · Hadlee · Hadleigh

Related names

Also meaning nature

Also starting with Had-

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