Varley

For the Australian town, see Varley, Western Australia.

Varley is a surname. The surname is either an English surname of Norman origin or an Irish surname of native Irish (Gaelic) origin. In Irish the surname is Mac an Bhearshúiligh (for a man) and Nic an Bhearshúiligh (for a woman)[1] (but also sometimes in Irish it is written as Uí Bhearshúiligh (O'Varley) or Mac / Ní / Uí a Bhearsula or Mac / Ní / Uí an Bhearlaigh.[2]

Varley (Irish: Mac / Ní / Uí Bhearshúiligh)
LanguageNorman French and Irish Gaelic
Origin
Meaningde Verli (of Verli in Normandy, France) or Mac / Ní / Uí Bhearshúiligh (son / daughter / descendent of) the sharp eyed man.
Region of originWest Yorkshire & Lancashire, England and Galway & Mayo, Ireland
Other names
Variant formsVarley, Varrilly, Varily, Mac / Ní / Uí Bhearshúiligh, Mac / Ní / Uí an Bhearsuiligh, Mac / Ní / Uí Bhearsuiligh, Mac / Ní / Uí a Bhearsula, Mac / Ní / Uí an Bhearlaigh.

Origins

As a northern English surname, it originates in Normandy and Picardy in France as an habitational name from Verly in Aisne, Picardy (or from Vesly (La Manche) or Vesly (Eure), or Vrély (Somme), all in Normandy or Picardy (modern day Hauts-de-France) in France), so named from the Gallo-Roman personal name Virilius + the locative suffix -acum.[3] Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, over the centuries the original Norman French de Verli or de Verley came to be written as Varley.[4] It is said that the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae records that Robert de Verlie, Normandy 1180-95 and Robert de Verli held land in Norfolk in 1086. Hugh and William de Verli held lands in Essex and York and later, Torald de Verli gave lands to Salop Abbey, c. 1100.[5] This originally Norman version of the name is overwhelmingly found in West Yorkshire and Lancashire in northern England.[6]

As an Irish surname, it is a Connacht name, found particularly in the counties of Mayo and Galway, with a concentration in the 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland around the Mayo-Galway border at Cong, The Neale, An Fháirthí (or Clonbur in the Connemara Gaeltacht), and at Belclare (near Tuam) Foxhall (near Loughrea), Ballinrobe, Kilmaine, Houndswood, Burriscarra, Kilcommon etc. The Irish surname Varley is from the Irish Mac / Ní / Uí an Bhearshúiligh, Mac Giolla Bhearshúiligh, Mac a Bhearsula, or Mac an Bhearlaigh (literally "son / daughter / descendent of the sharp eyed man").[7][8][9] The name was Anglicised variously as Varely, Varily, Varley, Varrilly, Varrelly, Varly, Farley etc. In County Armagh, Mac Giolla Bhearshúiligh was Anglicised as Vallelly and MacIlvallelly. The censuses for England and Wales from 1841 to 1921 show many Varley families were born in Ireland among the majority who were born in England. E.g. in the 1911 census for England and Wales there is a Varley family of 10 all born in County Mayo, Ireland and recorded living in Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Almost all people recorded with the surname Varley in the 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland were recorded as being able to speak Irish (and more often than not also English).

Notable people with the surname Varley

See also

References

  1. ^ "An Bearshúileach — Bunachar Sloinnte Gaeilge | Grúpa taighde Gaois". 2023-01-31. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  2. ^ "Killannin U20s get over the line in extra time against battling Clonbur – Connacht Tribune – Galway City Tribune". 2023-03-02. Archived from the original on 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  3. ^ Hanks, P., Lenarčič Simon and McClure, P. (2022). Dictionary of American family names. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Last name: Varley". SurnameDB. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  5. ^ The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States of America. Henry S. King & Company. 1874.
  6. ^ Parkin, Harry (2021). Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198868255.
  7. ^ "An Bearshúileach — Bunachar Sloinnte Gaeilge". Grúpa taighde Gaois. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  8. ^ "An Bearshúileach — Bunachar Sloinnte Gaeilge | Grúpa taighde Gaois". 2023-01-31. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  9. ^ Background of the surname VarleyFurther background of the surname Varley in Ireland
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