Willey
Usually an English surname from a place-name, though in some cases it may also mean “son of Will.”
The #2,759 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,628 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Willey is most often an English locational surname, taken from places called Willey or Wylye. The place-name was commonly explained in Old English as either “willow” or “willow lea” — a meadow or clearing where willows grew — and some sources also connect it with “well lea,” meaning a meadow by a spring or stream. A second, less common explanation treats Willey as a pet-form or patronymic from the name Will, short for William.
History
Medieval records show several English places with forms like Wylye, Wyliley, and Willey, and surnames formed from them appear early in the historical record. Bardsley and Harrison both note that the name could be local, tied to parishes in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, Shropshire, and elsewhere. In some families, especially where the surname developed from a personal name, Willey may have come from the nickname Will rather than a place-name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Harrison notes that several English places now called Willey had much older spellings, including forms recorded in Domesday Book and in 13th- to 14th-century charters.
From the historical record
“WILLEY (Eng.) i = Will' dim. sufl. -ey. 2 Bel. to Willey (common) = (a) the Willow [O.E. wylig, wilig, welig] (b) the Willow-Lea [O.E.wyligt&c. + ledh] (c) the Well-Lea [O.E. wylla + ledh]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)