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Presley Name Meaning, Origins & History

Presley

Pronunciation: PRES-lee

Meaning From the priest's meadow Origin Old English Gender Unisex
GIRLS RANK
#225
TREND
1
BOYS RANK
#1,819
TREND
79
Peak Years
2014, 2015, 2013
Lowest Years
1981, 1985, 1986
Energy Archetype
Intellectual & Expressive

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of girls named Presley in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name Presley

  • More than 36 thousand babies named Presley: U.S. records list 36,718 babies given the name Presley from 1880 through 2025. Of these, 4,945 boys received the name Presley - about 1 boy for every 6 girls.

What Does the Name Presley Mean?

Presley is an English surname used as a given name, and it means "priest's clearing" or "priest's wood." It comes from two Old English elements: prēost, "priest," and lēah, "wood," "clearing," or "meadow." The second element is common in English place names, where it usually refers to a clearing or patch of open ground in woodland. The first element is the ordinary word for a priest, not a personal name, so the whole name most likely described land associated with a priest rather than a person named Priest.

Because it is a habitational name, it began as a way of identifying someone by the place he came from, and its literal sense is a description of landscape and ownership rather than a statement about its bearer.

Presley Name History & Origins

Presley belongs to the large family of English surnames formed from place names. Names of this type were built from a descriptive first element plus a generic second element, and lēah ("clearing, meadow, wood") was one of the most productive endings in English place naming. The specific form with prēost as the first element belongs to the same pattern that produced other priest-related place names. As a surname, Presley developed in England and was carried by families there before spreading to other English-speaking countries.

The name became widely recognizable through the singer Elvis Presley (1935 - 1977), whose family bore the surname. The use of Presley as a first name reflects the general English and American practice of turning surnames into given names; it is used for both boys and girls, and its life as a personal name is tied to that surname tradition rather than to an older independent given-name history.

How Popular is the Name Presley?

Presley recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2014. Its best rank was #188 in 2015.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

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How the Name Presley Shapes Your Personality and Life?

You have a power of expression, either in speaking or writing. You are in favor for studying and research. You are clever, clear-sighted and intellectual. You don't like to let others know your true feelings. You might be atheistic or agnostic. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.

You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.

✦ Presley's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Presley's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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