What does my surname mean?

[ieatbees]

My surname is Horsley and i'm interested to know what it means. Can anyone help?

I've heard that there may be a village called Horsley, any truth in that?

[RogK]

Can't help you, but there must be a website that can. This site:

http://www.multimap.com/

lists four places called Horsley.

[Quizmonster]

Many surnames are based on the geographical area in which the original bearer of the name lived. Hence 'Woods' might refer to someone who lived in a wooded area and similarly with 'Moore', 'Hill' and so forth.

A 'lea' or 'ley' was a meadow and 'hors' is very probably just an abbreviation of 'horse' or of 'Horsa', a Viking name. So, Horsley was probably originally a name given to a villager who lived near "the field the horses were kept in" or one who lived near a field "owned by Horsa".

[Solarjunkie]

There's a village called Horsley near Nailsworth in Gloucestershire (with a very nice pub!)

[Otrere]

Try a search on this website:

http://www.last-names.net/