Laney
Usually a shortened form of Irish surnames such as Delaney, though in some cases it may also reflect an English place-name origin.
The #3,323 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,598 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Laney is most often treated as an Anglicized shortened form of Irish names such as Delaney or Ó Dubhshláine-related forms in older scholarship, though the exact pathway can vary by family. In English records, it may also represent a locational name, especially from a place called Llanfair or another place-name beginning with a similar sound. Because the historical spellings are variable, more than one origin may lie behind different Laney families.
History
19th- and early-20th-century Irish surname studies frequently list Laney alongside Delaney and related forms, suggesting that many bearers in Ireland and among Irish emigrants came from that tradition. In English sources, the name is rarer and may have arisen independently from place-name forms. The modern U.S. distribution likely reflects both Irish immigrant transmission and later spelling simplification.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname indexes often file Laney as a variant under Delaney, showing how a seemingly simple spelling can hide a longer Irish name history.
From the historical record
“"Iandyside. A loc. n. Laney. See Heney Lanford. A loc. n., Dorset, Staffs iANHAM. A loc. n., Glost. Panington. A loc. n., Hants,”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)