Given name & surname
Woodley
“from the wooded meadow”
Woodley is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the wooded meadow.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the wooded meadow.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Old English wudu (“wood”), built from English wood + -leigh (“lea”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1918. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Woodley through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 293
- 293 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 20 babies
- 2025
- 17
- #5,591 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +100%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 17 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,591 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 316 as a first name in 2020; 6,715 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.
Woodley’s family of names
Woodley has a related form in Woodly. Woodley has a related form in Wodolea. Woodley has a related form in Wodoleah.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Woodley, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Woods
“a woman of the forest” · “a man of the forest”
98% boys · 2% girls
Locke
“man of the forest” · “from the fortress”
>99% boys
Bentley
“from the meadow of bent grass”
95% boys · 5% girls
Wickley
“from the village meadow”
>99% boys
Jett
“resembling the jet-black lustrous gemstone”
98% boys · 2% girls
Hudson
“one who is adventurous; an explorer” · “the son of Hugh; from the river”
99% boys · 1% girls
Hockley
“from the high meadow”
>99% boys
Gridley
“from the flat meadow”
>99% boys