Alvey
A surname of uncertain origin, often treated as an old English personal-name form and historically concentrated in Nottinghamshire and nearby counties.
The #6,502 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,147 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname has usually been explained as arising from an early personal name, with 19th-century sources linking it to forms such as Aldwy or other old baptismal names now obsolete in England. Other old surname dictionaries also place it among short ancient personal-name forms that survived mainly as family names. The exact root is not fully secure, so the name is best treated as an old patronymic from a lost or heavily reduced given name.
History
Historical surname references place Alvey in England by the medieval and early modern period, with a noticeable cluster in Nottinghamshire. One source notes more than one mayor of Nottingham of this name in the 16th century, showing that it had local prominence there. Later county distributions suggest it became comparatively rare but remained an established English family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In the 16th century, more than one mayor of Nottingham bore the surname Alvey.
From the historical record
“Allured.— Bapt ; v. Alfred. AUver, Alvey, Alway, El- Tey. — Bapt. ' the son of ^dwy,' a fontal or personal name long ago forgotten in England, but it lives to-day in several patronymics. Of aome land in So merlon, co. Nor-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances