Manley
A surname most often taken from the place name Manley in Cheshire, originally meaning “Manna’s clearing or meadow.”
The #1,413 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,283 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Manley is usually explained as a habitational surname from Manley in Cheshire. The place name is commonly analyzed as Old English Manna’s leah, meaning “Manna’s clearing,” “woodland clearing,” or “meadow.” Some older writers also connect the name with a related English place-name tradition and note an early family residence at Manley estate.
History
The surname is recorded in English sources from the medieval period, and one family associated with Manley in Cheshire is said to have been established there by the time of Henry II. Later spellings such as Mandley and the South-English form Manly appear in historical records. The name spread beyond Cheshire as bearers moved into other parts of England and, later, to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower specifically notes Manley as an estate in Cheshire and treats the surname as a place-based name tied to long local residence.
From the historical record
“I\IAXHOOD. A hundred in Sussex. MANLEY. An estate in the parish of Frod-sham, co. Chester, where the family were resident from the time of Roger Manley, who flourished in the reign "of Henry II., till the XVI. cent. The family are assumed to have been of Norman origin, and the name is mentioned in Holinshcd's list…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom