Meaning and Origin of: Halley
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First name origins & meanings:
- Norse : Hero
- Irish : Wise one
- Old English : Hay meadow
First name variations
Last name origin & meaning:
- Scottish : habitational name from a place the location of which is disputed. Black gives two Scottish options, the first with no explanation, the second being Halley in Deerness, Orkney. Modern Scottish bearers may well get it from the Irish names (see 3 and 4 below).
- English : in part possibly a habitational name from Hawley in Hampshire, named from Old English heall ‘hall’, ‘large house’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’.
- Irish (Counties Waterford and Tipperary) : shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hAilche ‘descendant of Ailche’, possibly from the byname Ailchú meaning ‘gentle hound’. In some cases Halley has been used to replace Mulhall.
- Irish (County Clare) : shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÁille ‘descendant of Áille’, apparently from áille ‘beauty’, but possibly a variant of Ó hÁinle (see Hanley).