{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox name | name = Ainsley | image = | imagesize = | caption = | pronunciation = /ˈeɪnzli/ | gender = Unisex (mainly female) | meaning = | region = | origin = Scotland | related names = Ainslie, Ainsleigh, Ainslee, Aynsley | footnotes = }}
'''Ainsley''' (also spelt '''Ainsleigh''') is both a unisex given name and a surname and place name. It is derived from words meaning hermitage and clearing (Old English "anne" ("alone, solitary") or ānsetl ("hermitage") + lēah ("woodland, clearing")).<ref name="Hanks Hardcastle Hodges 2006">{{cite book |last=Hanks |first=Patrick |authorlink=Patrick Hanks |last2=Hardcastle |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=Oxford, England |series=Oxford paperback reference |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |oclc=67869278 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nd05X_awIgC |page=44 |access-date=20 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/ainsley |title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Ainsley}}</ref>
Notable people with the name include:
== Given name ==
=== Men === * A. C. de Zoysa (1923–1983), Sri Lankan criminal lawyer * Ainsley Battles (born 1978), American football player * Ainsley Bennett (born 1954), British sprinter * Ainsley Hall (born 1972), Cayman Islands cricketer * Ainsley Harriott (born 1957), English television chef * Ainsley Iggo (1924–2012), Scottish neurophysiologist * Ainsley Maitland-Niles (born 1997), English footballer * Ainsley Melham (born 1991), Australian actor * Ainsley Robinson, Canadian wrestler * Ainsley Waugh (born 1981), Jamaican sprinter
=== Women === * Ainsley Earhardt (born 1978), American television news anchor * Ainsley Gardiner, film producer from New Zealand * Ainsley Gotto (1946–2018), Australian businesswoman * Ainsley Hamill, Scottish singer * Ainsley Howard, English actress
== Surname ==
=== Ainsleigh === * Daniel Ainsleigh (born 1976), English actor and acting coach
=== Ainsley === * George Ainsley (1915–1985), English footballer and manager * Jack Ainsley (born 1990), English footballer * Jacqui Ainsley (born 1981), English model * John Mark Ainsley (born 1963), English opera singer * William Ainsley (1898–1976), English coal miner and politician
== See also == * Ainley, a surname * {{srt}} * Ainsley Canal, a short canal in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India * Ainsley House, a building in Campbell, California, United States * Ainslie (disambiguation) * Ansley, a parish in Warwickshire, England * Aynsley China, a British manufacturer * Aynsley, a given name and surname
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{given name|type=both}}
Category:English unisex given names Category:Given names derived from surnames