girl's name
Ashlyn
ASH-lin
- Origin American
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 51,048
the United States
#972
2025 births
Ashlyn has two possible sources and they disagree completely — the Irish aisling means a dream or vision, while the English reading is simply an ash-tree clearing. Neither has established itself. Its use as a given name is American and modern either way.
- Ashlyn is a name of American origin.
- Peaked in 2005, when 2,544 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 12,654 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1963.
Ashlyn over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 94 |
| 1970s | 149 |
| 1980s | 1,467 |
| 1990s | 10,586 |
| 2000s | 22,506 |
| 2010s | 11,153 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,138 |
What Ashlyn means
Ashlyn means a dream if taken from the Irish, or an ash-tree clearing if taken from the English. The two readings share no element and neither is settled.
Where Ashlyn comes from
Ashlyn has two competing accounts. The Irish aisling is a dream or vision, and specifically a genre of Gaelic poetry in which Ireland appears to the poet as a woman; it is pronounced quite differently from Ashlyn, which weakens the link. The English reading takes æsc, an ash tree, joined to the leah behind Leigh, elsewhere on this site. Its use as a given name is American and modern either way.
Ashlyn in use
Ashlyn peaked in the United States in 2005, when 2,544 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 972nd in the United States on 262 births and 3125th in England and Wales on 8, across 51,048 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. Our records carry it from 1963, so the whole of its history is recent.
How popular is Ashlyn?
In 2025, Ashlyn was given to 262 babies in the United States, ranking #972 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Ashlyn is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Ashlyn
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ashlyn also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ashlyn over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ashlyn in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Irish
- Aisling
Sibling names for Ashlyn
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ashlyn — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ashlyn
What does the name Ashlyn mean?
A dream from the Irish aisling, or an ash-tree clearing from the English. Neither is settled.
Is aisling really the source?
It is pronounced quite differently, which weakens the link.
What is an aisling poem?
A Gaelic genre in which Ireland appears to the poet as a woman.
How popular is Ashlyn?
972nd in the United States, down from a 2005 peak of 2,544 births.
Is Ashlyn a girl's or a boy's name?
Ashlyn is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
Is Ashlyn a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ashlyn currently ranks #972 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.