How to say it
BENT · ley
/ˈbɛnt.li/
Masculine
Bentley
Bent-grass meadow
What it means
Old English place name from beonet ('bent-grass') + lēah ('meadow'). The British luxury-car brand Bentley (founded 1919 by W.O. Bentley) is the modern anchor.
Bentley is an English place name and surname from the Old English beonet ('bent-grass, a wild grass') + lēah ('clearing, meadow'). Multiple villages in England carry the name. The Bentley automobile company was founded by Walter Owen Bentley in 1919 and became one of Britain's iconic luxury-car brands. As a first name Bentley surged in the US after Teen Mom's Maci Bookout named her son Bentley (2008); it peaked in the early 2010s and is now sliding. The luxury-brand association cuts both ways — some families embrace it, others find it heavy. It entered the US top 100 in 2011.
Popularity over time
peaked at #75 in 2011, currently #215 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
The Bentley luxury-car brand is the dominant English-language anchor; some parents lean into the aspirational coding, others find it on-the-nose.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- W.O. Bentley British engineer and founder of Bentley Motors
Spelling variants
- Bently
Names with the same feeling
See Bentley from another angle
By style