Pasley
A surname most likely taken from a place-name, especially the Sussex manor of Pashley/Passelewe.
The #9,320 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 88,390 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally treated as a locational surname, referring to someone who came from the manor called Passelewe, later Pashley or Pasley, in Sussex. The older place-name is obscure, and 19th-century writers were not fully certain of its derivation. Some of those writers also suspected a Norman connection, so the ultimate source may involve more than one layer of medieval naming.
History
Lower and Bardsley both connect Pasley with the Sussex place-name, though Bardsley expressly says the identification is doubtful and notes no clear Sussex ancestry for every bearer. The surname also appears in Irish records, and one 20th-century source treats Pasley as an Irish form related to Paisley. In practice, Pasley has been used in both English and Irish contexts, with spelling variation over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century surname dictionary remarks that Pasley may have been simplified from a place-name form and that people often reshape unfamiliar names into more familiar-looking ones.
From the historical record
“PASKALL. See Pascall. PASLEY. See Passelewe. PASIMORE. Probably Peasmore, a parish in Berkshire. PASS. A narrow entrance ; an avenue. Johnson. A topographical term. PASSAGE. From residence at one. Del Passage. H.R. PASSELEWE. PASSELEU. After-”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom