Hendley
A likely locational surname meaning “from Henley,” especially one of the English places with that name.
The #9,366 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 88,899 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hendley is generally treated as a variant of Henley. The place-name Henley comes from Old English words meaning “high” or “high clearing” plus “wood/clearing” in some local interpretations, and in surname use it marked someone who came from a place called Henley. The spelling with -d- is a later surname variant rather than a separate root.
History
19th-century surname writers grouped Hendley with Henley and Henly as a local surname. It likely arose independently in more than one English place-name area, since Henley is a common place name in England. In the United States, Hendley remains relatively uncommon compared with Henley.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries explicitly filed Hendley under Henley-type local surnames.
From the historical record
“London, i. Henley, Henly, Hendley.— Local y < of Henley/ parishes in the dices, of Oxford, Norwich, and Worcester.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)