Given name & surname
Knightley
“from the knight's meadow”
Knightley is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the knight's meadow.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the knight's meadow.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2009. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Knightley through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 140
- 33 boys · 107 girls
- Most popular year
- 2021
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #16,195 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +44%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 16,195 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Knightley’s family of names
Knightley has a related form in Knightlea. Knightley has a related form in Knightleah. Knightley has a related form in Knightlee.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
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