Ash is an English word name for the "ash tree", the tall tree whose wood was prized for spears and tool handles and which in Norse myth forms the world tree Yggdrasil; it also serves as a short form of Asher and Ashton. Video-game and anime fans know it from Ash Ketchum of Pokémon. In the United States Ash has risen from number 3431 in 2000 to a peak of number 1064 in 2023 and ranks 1177 in 2025.