Explore the Family Name Duley

The meaning of Duley

1. English (of Norman origin): variant of Olley, a habitational name, with fused Old French preposition d’. Compare Dolley. Alternatively, a variant of Dilley and perhaps occasionally a variant of Ulley (see Hulley) with fused Old French preposition. Early forms of the name have the appearance of a topographic name from Old French du ‘of the’ + Middle English le(y) ‘woodland clearing, pasture, meadow’, but this is an unlikely linguistic combination, given that topographic names are typical of the lower classes of society, who would not speak French. 2. English (of Norman origin): perhaps from Anglo-Norman French du lai ‘(man) of the law’ (Old French lei, loi, Anglo-Norman French lai), but a Huntingdonshire family so named belonged to the upper gentry, so it seems an unlikely origin. An alternative derivation from Anglo-Norman French lai, a variant of Old French lac ‘lake’, is formally possible, and might refer to one of the lakes in Huntingdonshire, such as Whittlesey Mere, but evidence is lacking for Anglo-Norman French naming of these features, and it is not easy to see why an Anglo-Norman family might be named after one of them. This surname may not have survived into modern times. The du Lay family’s principal holding was in Great Paxton (Huntingdonshire), held of the Honour of Huntingdon. 3. English: perhaps a nickname from Middle English duely, duly, douly ‘lawful, rightful’, although the circumstances in which this word might have been used as a name are not obvious. 4. Scottish: perhaps a habitational name from Dowally (Perthshire), which is now part of Dunkeld. The placename derives from Scottish Gaelic dubh bhaile ‘dark, black village’. 5. Irish: variant of Dullea.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.