Oakley
Meaning
from a surname and place names meaning "oak clearing" in Old English; famously borne by sharpshooter Annie Oakley
The story
Oakley is an English place name, the oak clearing, and there are villages of it scattered across half a dozen counties. Its American life is bound up with one person: Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter who outshot her future husband at fifteen and spent seventeen years with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. That was a stage name, taken rather than inherited, which makes her one of the few people to give a surname its fame after choosing it herself. Our records show the name genuinely shared today, about 15,400 girls to 11,400 boys. The curve went quiet for most of the twentieth century, under 100 babies a decade from the 1960s through the 1980s, and then moved: 1,148 in the 2000s, 8,652 in the 2010s, and more than 14,800 so far this decade.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Oakley peaked in the 2020s.
When you meet Oakley
Most people given the name Oakley 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.
The Oakley deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Oakley 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 Oakley fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Oakley · Middle names for Oakley · Gender-neutral names
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