Miley
A surname with more than one possible origin, most likely a nickname or pet form tied to Miles/Michael, and in Irish contexts sometimes an Anglicized Gaelic name.
The #4,797 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,921 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name Miley is usually explained in English as a pet form or diminutive of Miles, and sometimes of Michael, rather than from a literal word meaning. Some 19th-century writers also connected it with other short-name forms such as Milo or Millie, showing that the exact pathway was not always clear. In Irish records, Miley can also reflect Anglicized Gaelic surnames such as forms based on Ó Maol-… names, which were rendered in several different English spellings.
History
The surname appears in English surname collections as a diminutive-type name, while Irish surname scholarship shows Miley among several Anglicized spellings for Gaelic family names. Because the spelling is short and phonetically simple, it could arise independently in more than one tradition. That makes the surname especially likely to have multiple local origins rather than a single family source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same spelling can represent both an English pet-name surname and an Irish Anglicized surname, so two Miley families may have completely different roots.
From the historical record
“MILESTONE. From residence near one. MILEY. Perhaps a 'nursename' of Miles or Michael. MILGROVE. Probably the "middle grove." See P.Iiddlebrook. MILIIAM. Milium or Millom, a parish in Cumberland. MILICENT. The female Christian name. The H.R. form is Fil'Miliccut.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom