Wiley Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Wiley last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Wiley last name
Meaning of the Wiley last name: willow, or from the River Wylye. Wiley is an English surname with several sources: places named after the River Wylye in Wiltshire, a word for "willow", or a nickname for a wily person. In Ulster and Scotland the last name, often spelled Wylie, is long established. A curious detail: Ulster-Scots emigrants took it to Pennsylvania and the South, where Wiley became the usual spelling.
Arms associated with the Wiley name
In heraldry the full achievement adds a helmet, mantling and other parts around the shield, and coats of arms associated with the Wiley name are usually shown in that fuller form.
Get your full Wiley family history
This is only a glimpse of the Wiley story. The full Wiley history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Wiley coat of arms. Get the full Wiley report.
Wiley name FAQ
What does the Wiley name mean?
Willow, or from the River Wylye. Common variants include Wylie, Wyley, Wily.
Where does the Wiley surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in the United States, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Is there a Wiley coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Wiley coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford); George F. Black, The Surnames of Scotland (New York Public Library, 1946).