Kingsley is an English surname and place name from Old English cyning and leah, "king's meadow" or "king's clearing". Novelist Kingsley Amis and actor Ben Kingsley gave it prominence in Britain, and in America it fits the taste for names that carry the word king. Kingsley entered the US top 1000 in 2010, peaked at number 584 in 2016 and has slipped since, standing at number 1096 in 2025.