Malley
An Irish surname usually understood as a shortened form of O’Malley.
The #8,313 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 77,457 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Malley is generally treated as an anglicized form of the Irish O’Malley, from Ó Máille, meaning “descendant of Máille.” The old Gaelic personal name Máille is usually explained as a byname, though the exact sense is not entirely certain in the older literature. Some 19th-century writers also linked it with ideas such as smoothness or gentleness, but that reading is not securely established.
History
The name is strongly associated with the west of Ireland, especially Connacht, and is well known from the O’Malley clan tradition. In English-language records the prefix O’ was often dropped, which produced spellings like Malley, Meally, and Melly. The form appears in Irish surname collections and in late 19th-century Irish statistical lists.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The pirate chieftain Grace O’Malley made the surname famous far beyond Ireland.
From the historical record
“copies of the Roll of Battle Abbey. MALLEY, v. O'Malley. MALLINSON 1 Mal(l)in's Son : v, Mal(l)if). MALLISON ; MALLOCH \ (Celt.) the Irish Mocheallo^, the MALLOCK J name of a saint who flourished at the beginning of the 7th cent, and gave his name to Kilmallock in Limerick. MALONE (Celt.-1-Heb.) Servant or Disciple…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)