Given name & surname
Manly
“from the man's meadow; from the hero's meadow”
Manly is a variant of Manley. One English interpretation is “from the man's meadow; from the hero's meadow.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Manly is a variant of Manley. One English interpretation is “from the man's meadow; from the hero's meadow.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Manly is a variant of Manley. An origin associated with Manley is Old English.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Manly is a variant of Manley. The history of Manley gives this family its wider story. Manley’s naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Manly through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 521
- 521 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1922
- 24 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2000. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 24 in 1922. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 330 as a first name in 2020; 1,437 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.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Manly
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Manly, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Murvin
“a friend of the sea”
>99% boys
Mansfield
“from the field near the small river”
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Morley
“woman from the moor” · “from the meadow on the moor”
92% boys · 8% girls
Meril
“of the shining sea”
87% boys · 13% girls
Murrell
“of the shining sea”
85% boys · 15% girls
Murrel
“of the shining sea”
80% boys · 20% girls
Meade
“from the meadow”
99% boys · 1% girls
Oakey
“from the oak-tree grove”
>99% boys