The seeley Surname
seeley Name Meaning and History
- English: nickname for a person with a cheerful disposition, from Middle English seely ‘happy’, ‘fortunate’ (Old English s?lig, from s?l ‘happiness’, ‘good fortune’). The word was also occasionally used as a female personal name during the Middle Ages. The sense ‘pitiable’, which developed into modern English silly, is not attested before the 15th century.
- Altered form of German Seele, respelled to preserve the bisyllabic pronunciation of the German name.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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