MccarleyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhearghaile "son of Fearghal", a personal name meaning "valiant man".
MccorsleyIrish My guess is that my surname was changed sometime in the early 1800's but have never learned how my family name derived from or from where it originated.
McGinleyIrish Anglicized form of Mag Fhionnghaill, a patronymic from the personal name Fionnghal
McSorleyScottish, Irish Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Somhairle meaning "son of Somhairle", a given name borrowed from Old Norse Sumarliði "summer traveller".
MedleyEnglish Habitational name, either a variant of Madeley (a name common to several places, including one in Shropshire and two in Staffordshire), named in Old English as ‘Mada’s clearing’, from an unattested byname, Mada (probably a derivative of mad ‘foolish’) + leah ‘woodland clearing’; or from Medley on the Thames in Oxfordshire, named in Old English with middel ‘middle’ + eg ‘island’... [more]
MickleyFrench It originated when an immigrant family named Michelet came to New York from Northern France. Because they had a foreign surname, they made up the names Mickley and Michelin. The originator was Jean Jacques Michelet (John Jacob Mickley), a private in the Revolutionary War... [more]
MoberleyEnglish English habitational name from Mobberley in Cheshire, named in Old English as ‘clearing with a fortified site where assemblies are held’, from (ge)mot ‘meeting’, ‘assembly’ + burh ‘enclosure’, ‘fortification’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
MosleyEnglish Habitational name from any of several places called Mos(e)ley in central, western, and northwestern England. The obvious derivation is from Old English mos "peat bog" and leah "woodland clearing", but the one in southern Birmingham (Museleie in Domesday Book) had as its first element Old English mus "mouse", while one in Staffordshire (Molesleie in Domesday Book) had the genitive case of the Old English byname Moll.
MotleyEnglish This surname may come from a nickname for someone wearing parti-coloured clothes (from Anglo-French motteley, which may come from Old English mot meaning "speck").
MoxleyEnglish From the name of a settlement in Staffordshire, England, probably derived from the Old English given name Mocc and hlaw "mound, small hill".
NegleyGerman (Swiss) Altered spelling of Swiss German Nägele, Naegeli, or Nägeli, variants of Nagel.
NetleyEnglish Locative name from Netley Marsh in Eling (Hants), which is recorded as Nateleg in 1248. The place name derives from Old English næt "wet" + lēah "open woodland".
OberleyEnglish Of debated origin and meaning; theories include an Anglicized form of Oberle.
O'hurleyIrish The name Hurley itslef come from the stick used in the game of Hurling, first played in Ireland. The name might have origanated due to a player of the game being dubbed hurley... [more]
OleyEnglish Was my mother's fathers name. Also my mother's brother.
OrleyEnglish Habitational name from Orleigh, possibly meaning "Ordwulf’s clearing", functionally from ort "point" and leah "woodland, clearing"... [more]
OwsleyEnglish Habitational name form a now lost place name in Southern England. Possibly derived from the name of the river name Ouse and Old English -leah meaning "wood".
PadleyEnglish A habitational name from a place named Padley, which was probably named with the Old English personal name Padda and lēah meaning ‘glade, woodland clearing’. Alternatively, the first element may have been padde, meaning ‘toad’.
PaleyEnglish English surname, either a habitational name denoting a person from a lost or unidentified place in Lancashire or Yorkshire (which was apparently named with Old English leah "woodland, clearing" as the final element), or derived from the Old Danish personal name Palli, from Old Danish páll meaning "pole"... [more]
PaleyJewish, Yiddish, Belarusian, Ukrainian Occupational name for a distiller, derived from an East Slavic word (Russian палить (palitʹ), Ukrainian палити (palyty)) meaning "to burn". A famous bearer was Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley (1865-1929), the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia.
ParleyEnglish A place name meaning "pear field" from Old English 'per' with 'lee' or 'lea' meaning a field or clearing, perhaps where land was cleared to cultivate pear trees. Therefore this name denotes someone who lived near or worked at such a location or came from a habitation associated with the name... [more]
ParmleyEnglish Variant of Parley. This form is found more in northern England, specifically Cumberland and Durham, but is of like derivation.
PemberleyEnglish From the given name Paegna, ber meaning "barley" and leah meaning "clearing".
PenleyEnglish habitational name from Penleigh in Dilton Wiltshire. The place name probably derives from Old English penn "fold enclosure" or perhaps Celtic penn "head" and Old English leah "wood woodland clearing"... [more]
PooleyEnglish Habitational name from Pooley Bridge in Cumbria, so named from Old English pol ‘pool’ + Old Norse haugr ‘hill’, ‘mound’. topographic name from Middle English pole ‘pool’ + ey ‘low-lying land’ or hey ‘enclosure’
PratleyEnglish Originates from a now "lost" medieval village believed to have been in the south east of England.
PresleyScottish From Persley, a small Scottish hamlet on the River Don, Aberdeenshire, now a suburb of the much larger city of Aberdeen, named perhaps with the Pictish word *pres-, meaning 'bushes' or 'undergrowth'.... [more]
RenleyJewish (Rare), English (Rare) Possibly derived from the Old English rinc "man, warrior" or rim 'edge, circular edge' or possibly wraenna 'wren', and leah "field, clearing".
RowleyEnglish Anglo Saxon Name- locational, comes from several places in England such as in Devonshire, Yorkshire, County Durham and Staffordshire. It means ' rough wood or clearing', from the Old English 'run' meaning rough and 'leah', meaning clearing in a wood.
RugeleyEnglish From the name of a town in Staffordshire, England, derived from Old English hrycg "ridge" and leah "woodland clearing".
ShelleyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Habitational name from any of the three places called Shelley (Essex Suffolk Yorkshire) or from Shelley Plain in Crawley (Sussex)... [more]
ShipleyEnglish (Rare) English: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Derbyshire, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire, Sussex, and West Yorkshire, so called from Old English sceap, scip ‘sheep’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
ShockleyEnglish (i) perhaps "person from Shocklach", Cheshire ("boggy stream infested with evil spirits"); (ii) perhaps an anglicization of Swiss German Schoechli, literally "person who lives by the little barn"
SibleyEnglish (British) From the Anglo-Saxons influence in England. Said to be derived from the ancient Sibbelee, a woman’s Christian name, and has been traced through Sibilla, Sybbly, and finally Sibley. Sibilla was the name of a Greek princess who uttered the ancient oracles, and is represented on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel... [more]
SmalleyEnglish, Cornish (?) Locational surname from places in Derbyshire and Lancashire, so called from Old English smæl ‘narrow’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’. This may also be a Cornish name with an entirely separate meaning.
SmileyScots, English From elements small and lea meaning "a small clearing" or as a nickname may refer to a person of happy disposition known for smiling.
StaleyEnglish Byname from Middle English staley "resolute, reliable", a reduced form of Stallard.
StaleyBelgian From Old French estalee "fish trap", hence possibly a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman, or topographic name for someone who lived near where fish traps were set.
SterleyEnglish This is an English locational surname. Recorded as Starley, Stearley, Sterley, Sturley, and others, it originates from a place called 'ster-leah', meaning "steer" or "cattle farm". However no such place in any of the known surname spellings is to be found in England, although there is place called Starleyburn in Fifeshire in Scotland... [more]
StoakleyEnglish This is an English locational name of Anglo-Saxon origin. The meaning is either the wood from which stocks, that is to say tree stumps or logs were obtained and derived from the Old English pre 7th Century word stocc, meaning a stump and leah, "a wood or glade"... [more]
StockleyEnglish Derived from Old english stocc (tree bark) and leah (clearing), indicating that the original bearer of this name lived in a wooded clearing.
StudleyEnglish From any number of places called Studley in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and North Yorkshire. The name comes from Old English stod "stud farm" + leah "pasture".
StukeleyEnglish From a surname meaning "woodland clearing with tree stumps" in Old English.
TetleyEnglish habitational name from Tetlow in Manchester. The placename derives from the Old English male personal name Tetta or female Tette annd Old English hlaw "mound hill"... [more]
ThornleyEnglish Derived from Thornley, which is the name of three villages in England (two are located in the county of Durham, the third in Lancashire). All three villages derive their name from Old English þorn "thorn" and Old English leah "clearing (in a wood), glade", which gives their name the meaning of "the thorny glade"... [more]
TilsleyEnglish Derived from the place name Tyldesley, which in turn derives from Old English personal name Tīlweald with the suffix lēah “clearing, meadow”. Notable bearers of this name include Canadian salvationist and writer Bramwell Tillsley, as well as Welsh poet and Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales Gwilym Tilsley known under his bardic name of "Tilsli".... [more]
TimberleyAmerican, English (Rare) Means "timber clearing" in English. From the Middle English words tymber, meaning wood trees, and leah, meaning clearing. The name's origin be related to tree farming.... [more]
TinsleyEnglish From a place name in England composed of the unattested name Tynni and Old English hlaw "hill, mound, barrow".
TolleyEnglish Derived from the Middle English given name Toli, itself an English borrowing of Old Norse Tóli and thus a diminutive of Thórr.
TownleyEnglish Habitational name for a person from Towneley near Burnley in Lancashire, itself from the Old English elements tun "enclosure, settlement" and leah "wood, clearing"... [more]
WadleyEnglish From a place in England named with Old English wad "woad" or the given name Wada combined with Old English leah "woodland clearing".
WakeleyEnglish Habitational name from Wakeley in Hertfordshire, named from the Old English byname Waca, meaning ‘watchful’ (see Wake) + Old English leah ‘woodland clearing’.
WeekleyEnglish Originally meant "person from Weekley", Northamptonshire ("wood or clearing by a Romano-British settlement"). British philologist Ernest Weekley (1865-1954) bore this surname.
WhaleyEnglish From the name of the village of Whaley and the town of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, or the village of Whalley in Lancashire, England. It is derived from Old English wælla meaning "spring, stream" and leah meaning "woodland clearing".
WhalleyEnglish Variant form of Whaley. A famous bearer is the English actress Joanne Whalley (1961-).
WhatleyEnglish From any of the various places in England named with Old English hwæte "wheat" and leah "woodland clearing".
WinstanleyEnglish From the name of a place in Lancashire, England, which means "Wynnstan's field" from the Old English masculine given name Wynnstan and leah meaning "woodland, clearing"... [more]
WoolleyEnglish 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"... [more]
WorleyEnglish mostly found in Lancashire and Sussex. very old english surname. something to do with a hill near a stream.
WorsleyEnglish Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from either of the places called Worsley in Lancashire and in Worcestershire. The place in Lancashire was recorded as "Werkesleia" in 1196, and means Weorchaeth's wood or glade, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Weorchaeth", from weorc, work, fortification, and leah, a wood, or clearing in a wood... [more]
WriothesleyEnglish (British) Name is of unknown origin, deriving from older Wrotteslega, who were a family that held estates in Staffordshire in the late 1100s. Possibly a combination of wrot "snout" and leah "meadow, cleaning", suggesting it's origin as a pig farm.
WycherleyEnglish Derived from a place name apparently meaning "elm-wood clearing" from Old English wice and leah. A famous bearer was the dramatist William Wycherley (1640-1715).
YabsleyEnglish It is believed to be a derived spelling of Abboldesi, a place now more commonly known as Abbotsley or Abbotsleigh. However, the original surname had nothing to do with "Abbots" in any spelling, and derives from to the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Eadbeald" meaning "Prosperity-bold".
YardleyEnglish Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations in England named Yardley, derived from Old English gierd meaning "branch, twig, pole, stick" and leah meaning "wood, clearing".
YaxleyEnglish Meant "person from Yaxley", Cambridgeshire and Suffolk ("glade where cuckoos are heard").
YeardleyEnglish Means "enclosed meadow" in Old English, from Old English g(e)ard (“fence, enclosure”) + lēah (“woodland, clearing”).
YelleyEnglish (British) The surname Yelley was first found in Oxfordshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed... [more]