Given name & surname
Barkley
“birch tree”·“wood or clearing”
Barkley is a variant of Barclay. The likely place-name background combines “birch tree” with “wood or clearing.” This is an explanation of the surname’s geographical origin, rather than a meaning shared by every name associated with Barclay.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Barkley is a variant of Barclay. The likely place-name background combines “birch tree” with “wood or clearing.” This is an explanation of the surname’s geographical origin, rather than a meaning shared by every name associated with Barclay.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Barkley is a variant of Barclay. Barclay is generally a given-name use of the Scottish surname. That surname is probably connected with Berkeley in Gloucestershire; its Irish use as an English form of Parthalan is a separate naming route.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
Barkley is a variant of Barclay. The shared background comes through Barclay: Berkeley is explained through Old English beorc, “birch tree,” and lēah, “wood or clearing.” Barclay’s connection to that place is considered highly probable, although not certain.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1920. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Barkley is a variant of Barclay. The history of Barclay gives this family its wider story. Walter de Berchelai brought the surname to Scotland in the twelfth century and became chamberlain in 1165. His descendants formed one of Scotland’s powerful families. The later adoption of Barclay as a given name probably drew on that family’s prominence.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Barkley through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 323
- 318 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 1994
- 17 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #10,859 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,859 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 17 in 1994. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 410 as a first name in 2020; 12,719 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Barkley’s family of names
Barkley has a related form in Barclay. In English usage, Barkley as a surname has a related form in Berkeley. In Greek usage, Barkley as a surname is a transliteration of Μπάρκλεϋ.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Barkley
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Barkley, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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