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I agree with others who said it has a bad sound. Like Okie.
And it does not make me think of Annie Oakley. It makes me think of sunglasses and other surf-ski-y accessories with a big fat brand name emblazoned all over them. T-shirts. "O" stickers on cars. Doesn't anyone else think of that?? It's kind of like using Hurley as a fn, to me.

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I think if you want to honor Annie Oakley you'd make her first name Annie (or Phoebe Ann or Anne or something) and her second name Oakley. Annie Oakley Surname. Then she'd be spared having the ugly fn, and the reference would be crystal clear.

This message was edited 8/26/2018, 5:49 PM

I HATE it. I don't like the Oak sound. It's too heavy and awkward. like Oaf and I don't go for -ley names. Also it was the name of my neighbors especially sweet, but stupid yellow lab when I was a kid, so it seems a more dog than human sort of name. Annie Oakley is a cool namesake. I prefer Annie if you're going to do that though.

While on a person I do think Annie Oakley right away, I actually think sunglasses when I first hear Oakley. Really nice, expensive sunglasses brand.

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It falls into that popular trend right now of using surnames for girls so while I can see how it "works" well enough, I don't like the trend of surnames on either gender.

It's nice! I kinda like the nn Oak as a GP.

I happen to be a fan of Annie Oakley, but Oakley as a first name, for a girl or a boy, just sounds very doglike to me. I picture Oakley as a big, shaggy, goofy dog who wags his tail and sends a lamp falling off a table, and who leaves huge muddy footprints on people's shoulders because he's so happy to see them.

Oke used to be a way of referring to a male, like bloke with a bl- job. And Oakley sounds more like an address than a personal name. Why not use Annie, or Ann(e), for crying out loud?

Really not a fan at all. It’s not traditionally a first name and has kind of an awkward sound. If they want to honor Annie Oakley, why not use Ann or Anne (nn Annie)?

I hate it on girls, it looks and sounds quite masculine to me. I think using Annie would be a better way to honor Oakley, or Phoebe Ann, Oakley's real name.

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For a boy it's a good name though.

I remember in high school I came across an attendance sheet for another class that had the name Oakley on it. I’m not sure if it was a girl or boy, but I started like it for a girl. I still wouldn’t use it, because it sounds too “weird”.

I agree that it’s trendy and pretty gender non-specific and a bit too close to the Uber trendy Oaklynn which is way worse.

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Overall: better than Oaklynn but worse than pretty much a lot of other names.

It's okay. Very trendy though, so I'm not sure if people would automatically associate it with Annie Oakley.