The manley Surname
manley Name Meaning and History
- English: habitational name from places in Devon and Cheshire, named in Old English as ‘common wood or clearing’, from (ge)m?ne ‘common’, ‘shared’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’. The surname is still chiefly found in the regions around these villages.
- English: nickname from Middle English mannly ‘manly’, ‘virile’, ‘brave’ (Old English mannlic, originally ‘man-like’).
- Irish (County Cork): Anglicized form of Ó Máinle (and often pronounced Mauly), of unexplained origin. Compare Malley.
- Irish (Connacht and Donegal): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Maonghaile ‘descendant of Maonghal’, a personal name derived from words meaning ‘wealth’ and ‘valor’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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