TOWNSLEY
The surname Townsley is an English locational name. It derives from the Old English words tun, meaning “enclosure” or “settlement,” and leah, meaning “wood” or “clearing”. Consequently the name has been interpreted as ‘one who dwells in or belongs to the settlement in the clearing or wood’ and indicates that the original bearers were associated with a place called Townsley or a similar variant.
The name is almost certainly locational, referring to the village known as Towneley near Burnley in Lancashire. The Lancashire placename is first recorded in 1201 as “Tunleia”, and the Dictionary of English Place Names translates it as the wood or clearing belonging to the town, a pre 7th century Old English formation. This suggests that “Tun‑leah” was originally an outpost of Burnley itself, which was the principal manor, although in some instances it may also have been a topographical reference to a clearing near a village.
Variations of the surname appear in the historical record. The forms Townley, Townley and the dialectal Townsley are all attested. The earliest known spelling is that of Richard de Tunleie, dated 1214 in the Fines Court records of Suffolk during the reign of King John of England. Other early examples include Johannes de Tunsley, recorded in the Poll Tax rolls of Yorkshire in 1379, and Bernard Townley, a graduate of the University of Oxford noted in 1588.
While there is a place called Townley near Drogheda in Ireland, no evidence indicates that the surname originated there; the Irish village has never been linked to the spelling in question. The historic connections to Lancashire, however, are well documented, and the surname has remained a modestly distributed name within England.
Typical given names associated with the Townsley surname
Male
- Alexander
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
- William
Female
- Andrea
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Jean
- Julie
- Karen
- Kathleen
- Linda
- Margaret
- Mary
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Townsley in...
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There are approximately 1,899 people named Townsley in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,393rd most common surname in Britain. Around 29 in a million people in Britain are named Townsley.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Townsley
- Tom Townsley - Scottish football player (1898 to 1976)
- Derek Townsley - Football player
- Andrew Townsley - County cricketer
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.