Kley Family History

topographic name for someone living on heavy soil, from Middle Low German klei ‘clay’. habitational name from any of various places named Kley or Klei, notably in Westphalia, of uncertain origin. from the personal name Kley, a Franconian derivative of the saint’s name Eligius, or alternatively from a Rhenish short form of the personal name Nikolaus. Americanized spelling of Klee.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press