Pauley
Usually a pet-form surname meaning “son of Paul,” from the personal name Paul.
The #3,317 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,564 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a diminutive or pet form of the given name Paul, ultimately from Latin Paulus, meaning “small” or “humble.” In older spelling traditions, French Pauly and related forms were treated as variants of the same name family. The surname therefore points to descent from, or association with, a man named Paul rather than to a place or occupation.
History
19th-century surname writers, especially Bardsley and Harrison, treated Pauley as a baptismal surname derived from the personal name Paul. They also connected it with a cluster of related forms such as Paulin, Pawling, and Paullin. The surname is found in English-speaking countries and is common enough in the United States to have several thousand bearers, but it is not among the most frequent surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root Paulus also gave rise to the very common given name Paul across much of Europe, so Pauley belongs to a large international name family.
From the historical record
“, Cp. Pawlett. PAULEY! the French Pauly, a (Jeriy. f, Lat. PAULY J Paulus through {a) a type Pauli-us, (b) the genit. Pauli : v. Paul. PA U LIN \the French Paulin = Paul (q.v.) PAULLIN J + the dim. suff. -in. Paulin de Basset. — Hund. Soils. PAULING = Paulin (q.v.) with added -^.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)