Brawley
A surname with uncertain roots, often treated as an Irish name and sometimes linked to the Broly/Brolly group.
The #7,896 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 73,634 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Brawley is usually treated as Irish in origin, but the evidence is not entirely secure. One old source groups it with forms such as Broly and Brolly, suggesting it may be an anglicized rendering of an Irish Gaelic name that was heard and written in several different ways. The exact underlying Gaelic form is not certain from the excerpts alone.
History
The name appears in historical surname lists and indexes in several spelling forms, showing the usual instability of Gaelic-to-English spelling. In modern usage it is found chiefly in Ireland and in Irish-descended populations elsewhere, especially in North America. The surname is uncommon, but established enough to appear consistently in census and genealogical records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The spelling varies so much in older records that Brawley can be hard to separate from related Irish forms without local family evidence.
From the historical record
“O bti6lAi5,Broly,Brolly,Brawley O "btioftiACAin, Brosnahan, Bresnihan, Brosnan, etc. <3 t)|tt)ACAiTi, Broughan, Brohan;”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames