Barkley
A surname usually explained as a variant of Barclay or Berkeley, originally tied to a place-name in Britain.
The #2,764 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,657 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barkley is generally treated as a spelling variant of Barclay, and in some cases may also reflect influence from Berkeley. These names are locational, ultimately going back to place-names built from Old English elements meaning a birch tree and a clearing or wood. The sense is therefore roughly “birch clearing” or “birch wood.”
History
In older surname collections, Barkley is usually grouped with Barclay rather than treated as a fully separate origin. The name appears in both English and Scottish contexts, and later spread more widely through Britain and then North America. Spelling variation was common before modern standardization, so Barkley, Barclay, and Berkeley could overlap in records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname Barkley is one of several English and Scottish surnames that shifted spelling over time, so the same family line can appear under more than one form in old records.
From the historical record
“carius and Le Barkere. H.R. BARKLEY. See Barclay. BARLEY. Parishes and places in cos. Hertford and Yorlv. BARLEYIMAN. In Scotland, one Avho assists at the BuiiaAv or Barley courts, assemblies held in iiu'al districts to de- termine on local concerns. Jamieson. BARLICORN. Sir John Barleycorn, It seems, Avas no…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom