Tolley
Usually a shortened form of Bartholomew, though some early scholars also linked it to Scandinavian Thorleik.
The #6,005 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,920 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tolley is generally explained as a shortened, pet-form surname from Bartholomew, with the middle or later sounds of the forename preserved and the rest dropped. The deeper root of Bartholomew is the Aramaic/Hebrew name Bar-Tolmai, usually understood as 'son of Tolmai.' A minority of older surname writers also connected Tolley with Scandinavian names such as Old Norse Thorleikr, but the Bartholomew explanation is the one most often given for English Tolley.
History
The surname appears in English records and was treated by Bardsley and Weekley as a clipped patronymic from Bartholomew. The form was evidently in use by the 16th and 17th centuries, and later spread in Britain and to places such as the United States. Because similar-looking Scandinavian forms exist, some early scholarship hesitated between English and Norse explanations.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes quote a medieval form like 'Tholyn' or 'Tholynwyf' as evidence that the nickname-type spelling was very old.
From the historical record
“TOLLIT(T I Bartholomew, q.v. TOLLEY 1 (A.-Heb.) double dims, of Bar- TOLLY I tholomew, q.v. (Scand.) Tollei and Tolli are mod. Norw. forms of the O.N. Thorleik-r = Thor's Sport or Contest [O.N. leik-r, sport, contest, etc.] TOLLMAN 1 (Eng.) Toll-Man, Tax-Col-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)