[2] Appearances of the boys' name in popular culture include Ashley Wilkes in 1939's Gone with the Wind and Ash Williams (Ashley Williams) in the 1981 film The Evil Dead.
Ashley was used for English girls but the Ashleigh spelling was preferred, reaching a rank of #55 in 1994.
[5] Ashley entered the top 100 names for boys in New South Wales in 1971 but became more popular for girls in 1986.
For women, the Ashleigh spelling is as common as Ashley and reached a ranking of #13 in 1990.
[8] In the 1980s the name had a rise in popularity attributed to the female soap opera character Ashley Abbott who emerged on the still-running TV series The Young and the Restless in 1982.