Names That Mean Meadow

Brenley: a compound of trendy syllables or Brinley variation? It's totally up to you.

Likable Irish surname name, but bound to be confused with Clooney.

Variation of Cluny best only if you're a major George fan. And even then, better go with George, Georgia, or Georgiana.

Gently pleasant English family name long associated with 60-Minuteman Morley Safer.

Alternative spelling of Wesley, more commonly given to girls.

An English surname originally denoting someone living near a farmstead in the forest. Makes a sweet and unusual addition to the -ley name family.

An English surname originally denoting someone living near a farmstead in the forest. Makes an attractive and unusual addition to the -ley name family.

Marilee is one of the cheeriest – if least substantial – combinations of Mary with another name.

Yeardley (born Martha) Smith is the unusual name of the voice of Lisa Simpson; not advised unless your surname is Smith or Jones.

Another servile surname, this one connected to the go-between character in "Charlie's Angels."

Lauralee might be an Anglicization of Lorelei or a compound of Laura and Lee, which makes it a botanical choice.

This somewhat snobby-sounding surname popped onto the name map when Mariel Hemingway used it for one of her daughters.

Prideaux is a Cornish place name and surname that is occasionally attested as a girls' first name. It likely stems from the French phrase "pré de eaux", meaning meadow of waters. For fans of Margaux, Prideaux might be a less-common and very pretty alternative.

The cake company pretty much knocked this otherwise-pretty compilation name out of consideration for most parents.

Buckingham is an English surname, denoting one's ancestors lived in Buckinghamshire county. The place name was firstly Buccingaham, composed of the components inga, meaning "people of," and hamm, the Old English word for "water meadow." Bucc refers to an Anglo-Saxon chieftain named Bucca, who, in theory, settled the land.

An emerging unisex surname name. Radley is more common for boys — it could be seen as an updated version of Bradley — but for girls, it's a rare alternative to Hadley and Adley.

Fresh choice in the vein of Carly and Harley.

Modern combination of two popular sounds, but the name itself is very rare.

Often seen as a part of Arabic place names, such as Rawda Island in Cairo and Al-Rawda Square in Damascus.

Cheerful and distinctive.