Bentley surname meaning

Bentley is an English habitational surname from any of numerous places so named—among them in Derbyshire, Essex, Hampshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire. The place-name combines Old English beonet, “bent grass,” with lēah, “woodland clearing,” so a Bentley was a clearing where bent-grass grew. Bently and Bintley are historical variants; a few U.S. lines may reflect Americanized South German Bentele. Place is high confidence: the English toponymic origin is transparent and accounts for the great majority of bearers.