Hundley
An English surname usually explained as a place-name form of Huntley, meaning someone from Huntley in Gloucestershire.
The #4,152 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,187 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally treated as a variant of Huntley, a habitational name from Huntley in Gloucestershire. The place-name is usually interpreted as Old English elements meaning “hunting wood” or “hunting clearing,” with the second element -ley from leah, “woodland clearing.” Hundley can therefore be understood as a spelling or phonetic variant that developed from Huntley rather than a separate root.
History
Bardsley records Hundley as a local surname and explicitly points readers to Huntley. The form appears in English records, especially in areas such as Lincolnshire, and later spread with migration to North America and elsewhere. Today it remains much less common than Huntley.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley’s dictionary treats Hundley not as a distinct origin, but as a local spelling tied to Huntley.
From the historical record
“HDB. (CO. Lincolnh ). I. Hundley.— Local ; v. Huntley. HondTad, Hundredth, Hun- dr«der.~(i) Local, 'at the hun-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances