Stanley

Stanley: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“stony clearing”
Origin
Old English
Say it
STAN-lee · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys

From an English surname and place name derived from Old English stan 'stone' and leah 'woodland clearing.' It later became a familiar given name in English-speaking countries.

How popular is Stanley?

202483.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Stanley in 2024275

2024 rank#873 boys

Peak year1916

Total US babies since 1880302,579

Stanley is steady now but far below its 1916 peak.

Names like Stanley

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Stanto stand, become · Slavic
  • Wesleywestern meadow · Old English
  • Westonwestern settlement · Old English
  • Blakeblack; pale · Old English
  • Oakleyoak clearing · Old English
  • Edwardwealthy guardian · Old English
  • Ashtonash tree town · Old English
  • Kingstonking's town · Old English

Stanley questions

What does the name Stanley mean?

Stanley means "stony clearing". It comes from Old English. From an English surname and place name derived from Old English stan 'stone' and leah 'woodland clearing.' It later became a familiar given name in English-speaking countries.

Is Stanley a boy or girl name?

Stanley is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Stanley?

275 US babies were named Stanley in 2024. Its peak year was 1916.

How do you pronounce Stanley?

Stanley is usually pronounced STAN-lee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.