Carley
A surname most likely from a place-name such as Carlisle, though some older sources also connect it with a Scots nickname meaning “little man.”
The #6,886 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,268 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually treated as a locational surname, probably from Carlisle in Cumberland, with spellings shortened or altered over time. One 19th-century source also suggested a Scots word carlie meaning “little man,” seen as a diminutive of earl, but that explanation is uncertain and may be secondary. The surname can therefore be understood as either place-based or, less securely, nickname-based.
History
The form appears in English and Scottish records, and later examples show it spreading into Ireland and North America. Because the spelling is simple and variable, it has been recorded alongside related forms such as Carlyle, Carlile, and Carlin. In Irish collections, Carley appears as a minor surname in Antrim and other counties, suggesting local adoption as well as migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname books grouped Carley with a cluster of “Carl-” names, which is why it sometimes gets linked to Carlisle even when the spellings look quite different.
From the historical record
“CARLEILL. See Carlisle. CARLEY. Scot, carlie, a little man— a diminutive of earl. Jamieson. Perhaps however local. CARLISLE. CARLYLE. The city in Cumberland. CARLOS. CARLOSS. A corruption of Carolus, Charles. CARLTON. CARLETON. The Eng- lish gazetteer shows twenty-two parishes,”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom