Wooley
A mostly locational surname, originally from places called Woolley or Wooley, likely meaning “wolf clearing” or “wolf meadow.”
The #5,679 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,539 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wooley is generally treated as a place-name surname, from one of several English places called Woolley or Wooley. The older form is usually explained from Old English wulfes lēah, meaning “wolf’s clearing” or “clearing associated with wolves.” Some early writers also spell the name as Wolflege or Wolveley, which supports that older form.
History
The surname appears in records tied to Yorkshire and other English counties, and it spread as people adopted their home place as a family name. Some later bearers may also reflect spelling simplification from Woolley to Wooley. In modern usage, both spellings are closely related and often treated as variants.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Earlier surname writers were struck by how many English place-names preserve the element wolf, even where wolves had long disappeared from the area.
From the historical record
“elem.] WOOLEY: V. Wool ley. WOOLF \ = Wolf(e, q,v. But most of the WOOLFE J Woolf(e)s in the London Directory are of more or less recent .Continental origin. WOOLFALL (Eng.) Bel. to Woolfall (Lane). 14th cent. Wolffal, Wolfall, 13th cent.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)