Isley
A locational surname from a place name in Leicester, originally meaning someone who came from that place.
The #8,736 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 82,244 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally taken from a place called Isley in Leicestershire, so it began as a name for someone who had moved from there. The place-name itself is likely very old, but the 19th-century sources consulted do not clearly explain its deeper linguistic roots. In surname use, the name simply means “from Isley.”
History
Bardsley and later surname dictionaries treat Isley as a local surname, and Barber explicitly links it to the Leicestershire place-name. The surname is not especially common, which fits a habitational name that stayed relatively local before spreading more widely. Modern bearers are found chiefly in English-speaking countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Barber’s dictionaries also point readers from Isley to similar-looking local surnames such as Icely and Islip, showing how easily place-names could blur together in older surname lists.
From the historical record
“Isley.— Local, ■ of Isley,' a cbapeliy in the parish of Kegworlh, CO. Leicester. ■Se^ Jama Feckham and Anne tiley. of Chart, near SaltonValmce: Marriage”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances