Names like Harley

Harley is a two-syllable English name that ends on a vowel. Each list below follows one of those threads on its own, so you can see exactly what the names share.

The same sound

Two syllables, ending the same way as Harley.

Hailey English · "hay meadow," from the surname Hayley and the English villages behind it; barely used as a first name before the 1960s, then a chart-climber with a dozen spellings, of which Hailey leads in the US. Fresh-air sound, minimal baggage

Hadley English · place name/surname, "heather field"

Haisley English · modern coined name, likely blending 'Hailey' with the surname suffix '-ley' (clearing)

Henley English · place name and surname meaning high meadow

The same roots

Also English names, from the tradition Harley comes from.

Oakley English · place name/surname, "oak meadow"

Hartley English · English place name/surname meaning 'deer meadow'

Whitley English · surname and place name meaning white meadow

Lindsey English · island of linden trees

The same feel

Also nature and surname style names.

Wiley English · willow meadow

Ashley English · ash tree meadow

Hunter English · "one who hunts," an occupational surname from the Middle English hunte; it rode the 1990s wave that turned rugged trade surnames into first names, and outlasted most of that wave. Outdoorsy, direct, and hard to shorten

Shelby English · English surname of Old Norse origin, 'willow farm'

Names of the same moment

Each of these is at its highest in the 2010s, the same decade as Harley, on a similar curve.

Audrey English · from Old English Æthelthryth, "noble strength"

Wesley English · "western meadow," an Old English place name; it became a given name in tribute to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and spread wherever Methodist circuit riders preached. Softly scholarly, with Wes as the easy short form

Berkley English · place name/surname meaning 'birch tree meadow'

Bailey English · "bailiff," the manor's steward, an occupational surname worn as a first name; friendly and unisex from its 1990s crossover, it reads warm, capable, and a little countryside. One of the surname wave's most easygoing survivors

The full Harley page: meaning, origin and 130 years of records

Which of these fits YOUR family? →