I’ve been crushing on a bunch of -ley names for boys lately ([name]Rowley[/name], [name]Hartley[/name], [name]Audley[/name], etc). [name]Do[/name] you think that -ley names have a tendency to go feminine or to sound feminine to a lot of people? Any -ley names on boys that you like in particular? [name]General[/name] thoughts?
Personally, I think 9 times out of 10 that -ley sounding names sound much more feminine, even if the name is mostly associated as a boy’s name. I just don’t like the idea of a future son of mine having what is to me, not a strong name to build his life on. For my family, I wouldn’t choose this.
However, what is strong to one person is weak to the next. I think the most important thing is to choose a name you are truly in love with that feels right for the person you are bringing into the world. If you feel a particular pull to a name ending in -ley, then there’s a reason for it.
There is one -ley name I do enjoy, and that’s [name]Huxley[/name] for its literary connection. If I ever used this, I would make it a MN though.
For 2010, on the SSA baby names list the girls names [name]Hailey[/name] #19, [name]Ashley[/name] #27, [name]Riley[/name] #40, and [name]Bailey[/name] #78 appear before the first instance of a boys -ley name, [name]Bentley[/name] #101. There were 3,742 [name]Bentley[/name]'s named in 2010 compared to 22,314 of those girls names combined. However, there is one -ley name that i think is undisputedly masculine is [name]Kingsley[/name].
The names [name]Harley[/name] and [name]Wesley[/name] are more masculine, in my opinion.
The only -ley names I can think of off-hand are unisex/thought of as girly–[name]Ashley[/name], [name]Riley[/name], [name]Bailey[/name] (by far my favorite -ley name!), [name]Hadley[/name], [name]Brinley[/name], Linley, [name]Finley[/name], [name]McKinley[/name]/[name]Kinley[/name], etc. They have all tended to go feminine, sadly! I love the majority of them on boys (with the exception of maybe Linley and [name]Hadley[/name], but I wouldn’t ever use any of them!).
From the -ley names you mentioned, I think [name]Rowley[/name] sounds distinctly masculine (looks it, too!), but I’ve heard of [name]Hartley[/name] being used on girls (much more than boys, actually!), and [name]Audley[/name] is similar enough to [name]Hadley[/name]/[name]Adley[/name] that I can see it being pulled into the girls’ camp.
Sorry if this doesn’t really help your case… I wish it wasn’t the case myself! If [name]Bailey[/name] was seen as more masculine it would easily be on my top five, maybe even my top 2 or 3. 
From BehindtheNames search engine of boy’s names ending in ley
[name]AINSLEY[/name]
[name]ASHLEY[/name]
[name]AUDLEY[/name]
[name]BAILEY[/name]
[name]BENTLEY[/name]
[name]BRADLEY[/name]
[name]CHARLEY[/name]
[name]CHESLEY[/name]
[name]CONLEY[/name]
[name]DALEY[/name]
[name]DUDLEY[/name]
[name]FARLEY[/name]
[name]FINLEY[/name]
[name]HADLEY[/name]
[name]HARLEY[/name]
[name]HARTLEY[/name]
HEADLEY
[name]HEDLEY[/name]
[name]KELLEY[/name]
[name]KINGSLEY[/name]
[name]LESLEY[/name]
[name]MANLEY[/name]
[name]MORLEY[/name]
[name]PRESLEY[/name]
[name]RIDLEY[/name]
[name]RILEY[/name]
[name]RIPLEY[/name]
[name]ROWLEY[/name]
[name]RYLEY[/name]
[name]SHELLEY[/name]
[name]SHIRLEY[/name]
[name]SORLEY[/name]
[name]STANLEY[/name]
THORLEY
[name]WESLEY[/name]
[name]WESTLEY[/name]
[name]WILEY[/name]
I think these are no way feminine:
[name]BRADLEY[/name]
[name]DALEY[/name]
[name]DUDLEY[/name]
[name]FARLEY[/name]
[name]FINLEY[/name]
[name]HADLEY[/name]
[name]KINGSLEY[/name]
[name]MANLEY[/name]
[name]MORLEY[/name]
[name]ROWLEY[/name]
[name]STANLEY[/name]
[name]WESLEY[/name]
My husband and I considered [name]Finley[/name] for our son. I see some of them as unisex but not necessarily feminine. I think how you see a name depends on the person with the name because that becomes who you think of when you hear it.
I love [name]Oakley[/name] for a boy. It sounds very masculine to me, but others don’t think so. I do think that some -ley names are still good one boys though. I’m a fan of [name]Rowley[/name]. 
I can never figure out [name]Rowley[/name]. Surely it’s not pronounced row as in ow, ouch, row-ley; and row as in row-the-boat or roe roe-ley sounds like a roly-poly chubby little baby. Cute, but not fit for a grown man.
I think [name]Huxley[/name], [name]Wesley[/name], [name]Yardley[/name], [name]Finley[/name], [name]Stanley[/name], [name]Bradley[/name], [name]Kingsley[/name] are all decent in their own way and definitely masculine, mostly because the first syllable is recognizably masculine.
One of my most favorite names is [name]Huxley[/name]. Completely masculin, and I adore names with the letter x.
I had a friend in HS whose last name was [name]Rowley[/name] and it’s pronounced like “ow”.
I have noticed that a lot of -ley names tend to go feminine. One of my favorite boy names, [name]Riley[/name], did this. There were a lot of names mention in a PP that used to be masculine (like [name]Ashley[/name]) that are now feminine names. I do think the “ley” makes it slightly feminine, though as PPs have mentioned, there are a few names that seem to be staying masculine. I think [name]Wesley[/name] will stay masculine because I could never imagine calling a girl [name]Wes[/name]. Another favorite -ley boy name of mine is my cousin’s name, [name]Bradley[/name]. I think I’ve heard a couple people at some point mention this for a girl, but I could never call a girl [name]Brad[/name]!
I think people are crazy and will use any boy name for a girl. The -ley ending tends to help their case in saying it can be feminine too.
I really like the name [name]Wylie[/name] for a boy. I’m not sure on the spelling [name]Wylie[/name] verses [name]Wiley[/name]. So, I’m really interested to see what everyones’ thoughts is on this. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
6/22/08 I named my 1st born girl
[name]Kayleigh[/name] [name]Ann[/name]
12/5/11 I gave birth to Fraternal twin boys
[name]Wesley[/name] [name]Adam[/name]
[name]Bradley[/name] [name]Austin[/name]
I love girl and boy names with [name]Lee[/name]/Ley/[name]Leigh[/name]!!
If thats the kind of name you like then pick it.If your worried it sounds feminine then your doubting it.
The other names I considered were [name]Stanley[/name], [name]Bentley[/name]. If a girl then [name]Ashleigh[/name], Nataleigh.
It’s your child the name will come to you when the time is right
I like [name]Wesley[/name] or [name]Westley[/name], [name]Finley[/name] (I don’t like it on girls but sadly it appears to be headed that way), and [name]Kingsley[/name].