Salley
A surname most likely tied to a place-name, especially in Manx usage where it can point to Ballasalla.
The #6,327 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 57,260 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is probably locational, formed from a place or farm-name rather than from a personal nickname or occupation. The strongest clue in the historical material links Salley with Manx naming patterns, where abbreviated surnames often referred to places of abode; here, salley is given as a form for Ballasalla. In English usage, Salley may also reflect a surname that developed independently from a place-name spelled similarly.
History
The cited Manx source shows that short, place-based surnames were common on the Isle of Man, and Salley is explicitly connected there with Ballasalla. In later records the name appears as an ordinary hereditary surname in English-speaking areas as well. Because the evidence is limited, it is safest to treat the surname as likely locational rather than to claim a single universal origin for every family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century Manx writer specifically noted salley as a shortened form used for Ballasalla, showing how local place-names could become surnames.
From the historical record
“George Salley Jacob Emma”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom