Bentley
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Meaning
from an English place name and surname combining Old English beonet, a kind of grass, and leah, "woodland" or "clearing"
The story
Bentley carries grass and a clearing in its old place-name roots; Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley brings a feather into the picture. The English surname combines Old English beonet, a kind of grass, with leah, "woodland" or "clearing". On his family farm in Jericho, Vermont, Bentley made a successful snowflake photograph in 1885. He worked outside in the cold and moved the fragile flake beneath his lens with a feather. His apparatus joined a microscope to a bellows camera, making the tiny subject available to the photograph. Preserving the image brought a second concern: he offered photographs to the Smithsonian so that fire or accident would not destroy them. The institution still holds his pictures, a lasting record of subjects that needed cold air and such careful handling to be photographed at all.
How popular is Bentley around the world?
In the United States, 13,451 babies were named Bentley between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 16 boys were registered as Bentley in 2017.
Bentley is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, New Zealand and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 1,600
In the United States, 13,451 babies were named Bentley between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Bentley peaked in the 2010s. Bentley went to 4,527 US babies in 2015 and 1,795 in 2025, 40% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 1,1002017
In South Australia, 16 boys were registered as Bentley in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 3,600
In Canada, 96 boys named Bentley were born in 2024, the 340th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 5,200
In New Zealand, 11 boys named Bentley were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
England and Wales
1 in 18,000
In England and Wales, 33 boys named Bentley were born in 2025, the 934th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Argentina
last on record 2017
Bentley is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Ireland
last on record 2022
Bentley is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Poland
last on record 2013
Bentley is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Scotland
last on record 2021
Bentley is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Bentley
Most people given the name Bentley in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Bentley · Names that go with Bentley · Middle names for Bentley · Climbers and fallers
The Bentley deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Bentley truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Bentley fits with your family’s names and surname.
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