Name Awesome

Ash

#1,177 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Short form of Ashley

Ash has been given to 2,680 babies in the U.S. since 1975. In 2025 it ranked #1,177 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 204 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Ash, 2025

1 in 18,900

Ash over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Ash over time

In 2025, Ash went to 9% girls and 91% boys.

19752025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Ash: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Ashley

surname transfer

What Ash means

Ash is a short form of Ashley.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Ash → Ashley. The family’s meaning is “ash tree + wood, clearing”, recorded in English with the source elements æsċ and lēah.

Origin, language, and formation

Ash is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Ash is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ashley and Ashleigh.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ash is pronounced /ˈæʃ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,535 boys were recorded with the name Ash between 1975 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 204 in 2023; its best national rank was #1,064 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,084 in 2020 to #1,177 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,613 in 2015 to #1,177 in 2025.

In the United States, 145 girls were recorded with the name Ash between 1990 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 21 in 2024; its best national rank was #5,812 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #12,303 in 2020 to #6,571 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ash?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 18,900
175 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 9,760
0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,177
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
13,132 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ash sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5003%

Put another way: gather 13,132 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ash. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ashs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ash was born before 2019 — so the typical Ash is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
45.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
95.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,535
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 45.1% of all recorded uses (1,143).

Is Ash rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−26
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−93
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+436
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.77×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
85.8%
Peak was 2023 (204)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
13.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,064
2023

Where Ash is used

Across 2016–2025, Ash was most concentrated in Oregon — about 1 in 3,030 boys, against 1 in 12,285 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in 100,000).

133 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oregon1 in 3,030
  2. 2Colorado1 in 5,000
  3. 3Washington1 in 5,263
  4. 4Arizona1 in 7,143
  5. 5Utah1 in 7,692
  6. 6California1 in 8,333
  7. 7Michigan1 in 11,111
  8. 8Ohio1 in 12,500

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ash around the world

Where Ash ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,066
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2012–2025
    #762
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2021–2021
    #433
    in 2021
  • Ireland
    2020–2025
    #829
    in 2025
  • France
    2022–2023
    #5,358
    in 2023
  • Canada
    2005–2024
    #1,459
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1985–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Ash

People whose public names include Ash, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Ash in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Ash. Linked forms have their own page here.

AshaAshley

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Ash by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,177
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 93
Best rank ever
#1,064
2023
Peak year
2023
204 that year
First recorded
1975
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,535
Count in 2025
175

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#6,571
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 5,732
Best rank ever
#5,812
2024
Peak year
2024
21 that year
First recorded
1990
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
145
Count in 2025
17

Names similar to Ash

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AshbyYashAshwinAshtynDashAshurAshtinAsheAkashAshtenAsharAshrafAshadAshonArashAshokKashWashVashAshanAshleyAshvikAshirNash

Names with a curve like Ash

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Ash, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

KnowledgeCartierZakariBeauxZephyrMacklinKilianCedarArhamGadielZeusBastian

Sibling names for Ash

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ash

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