indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Meaning & History
A habitational name from any of various places so-called. Most, including those in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, and West Yorkshire in England, are derived from the Old English wulf, meaning "wolf", and leah, meaning "wood" or "clearing". Thus, in most cases, the name literally means "wood or clearing frequented by wolves". However, one example in Somerset, a county in South West England, has as its first element from the Middle English wolle or wulle, meaning "spring" or "stream".