Given name & surname · also Old English
Bentley
“from the meadow of bent grass”
Bentley is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the meadow of bent grass.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the meadow of bent grass.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old English.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
Its naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Bentley through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 63,562
- 60,027 boys · 3,535 girls
- Most popular year
- 2012
- 6,143 babies
- 2025
- 1,795
- #215 for boys · #1,468 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −39%
- Cooling
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 95% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,649 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 215 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 39.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 5,895 in 2012. It also appeared in 146 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Ohio had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (115). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 42,505 as a first name in 2020; 39,380 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.
Bentley’s family of names
Bentley has a feminine form in Bentlee. Bentley has a related form in Bently. Bentley has a related form in Bentlee.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Bentley
- Bentley LittleAmerican writerborn 1960
- Bentley Deanmovie director, producer & cinematographerborn 2000
- Bentley MitchumAmerican actor and directorborn 1967
- Bentley Baxter BahnGerman footballerborn 1992
- B. D. AckleyGospel music composer1872–1958
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Bentley, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Leland
“from the meadow land”
98% boys · 2% girls
Ashton
“from the ash-tree town”
95% boys · 5% girls
Jett
“resembling the jet-black lustrous gemstone”
98% boys · 2% girls
Ford
“from the water” · “from the river crossing”
>99% boys
Locke
“man of the forest” · “from the fortress”
>99% boys
Mannley
“from the hero's meadow; from the man's meadow”
>99% boys
Hernley
“from the heron's meadow”
>99% boys
Woods
“a woman of the forest” · “a man of the forest”
98% boys · 2% girls