Neely
An Irish and Scottish surname usually meaning “descendant or son of Niall,” with some forms also linked to MacConghaol.
The #1,502 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,949 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Neely is usually treated as an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Niall, a personal name long borne in Ireland and Scotland. In that sense, it means “descendant of Niall” or “child of Niall,” and related spellings include Neeley, Neely, Neilan, Neelan, and Neelen. Some 19th-century writers also connected certain Neely forms with the Irish MacConghaol, but that is presented as an alternative rather than the only origin.
History
The name appears in anglicized Irish and Scottish records in several overlapping spellings, which makes its exact source family vary by branch. In the United States, Neely has been established long enough to appear among nineteenth-century surname lists and later census records. Because similar-looking Gaelic names were often simplified in English, different Neely families may not share a single ancestral origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A small change in spelling can hide a different Gaelic original: some Neely lines trace to Niall, while older sources also group it with MacNeely forms from MacConghaol.
From the historical record
“NEELEYl (Celt.) I for the It. MacConghaok NEELY I Son of Conghaol : v. Connel. 1 2 for Mao Neilly, q.v. Neep 37 Nettelfield”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)