Ashaway is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hopkinton in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. Along with Hope Valley, Ashaway is a principal village of Hopkinton, although it is the smaller of the two. The population was 1,537 at the 2000 census. The name Ashaway is an anglicisation derived from the Native American name for the river that runs through the villiage, the Ashawague or Ashawaug, which means "land in the middle" or "land between" in the Niantic and Mohegan languages.