Kelley
A surname with multiple roots: in England and Cornwall it can be locational, while in Ireland it is often an anglicized form of Ó Ceallaigh.
The #198 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 2,194 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Kelley has more than one established origin. In Cornish sources, it is explained from a word for “grove” or “holly-tree,” suggesting a topographic name for someone living by a grove. In English usage it can also be locational, tied to places called Kelly, while in Irish it is commonly an anglicized form of Ó Ceallaigh, a patronymic from the personal name Ceallach. Because these lines of origin overlap in spelling, the surname cannot always be assigned to just one source without family history.
History
The spelling Kelley is especially common in English- and Irish-speaking areas, and in older records it often appears alongside Kelly as a variant. Cornish surname writers specifically connect Kelley with local place-names in Cornwall, while Irish genealogical works treat Kelley as part of the wider Kelly/O'Kelly family of surnames. In the United States, Kelley became a well-established surname through both British and Irish immigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers sometimes grouped Kelley and Kelly together so closely that the difference was treated as mainly a spelling matter, not a separate family name.
From the historical record
“holly-tree. KELLEY. See Kelly. KELLIGREW. See Killigrbw. KELLY, KELLEY. As Cornish names, from kelly, kelliy the grove. KELLIO, KELLIOW, KELLYOW. Most probably the same name and family; from Kelliow, in Cor nelly; from killioWy the groves.”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames