Conley surname meaning

Conley is usually an anglicized Irish surname from Ó Conghaile, meaning “descendant of Conghaile.” The personal name Conghaile is often analyzed from Gaelic elements associated with a hound and bravery, producing the familiar gloss “descendant of the hound of valor.” Conley, Connolly, Connelly, and older Gaelic spellings developed through regional English recording. Related-looking families are not automatically one sept, and some lines may have been respelled after migration. The catalog uses parent’s name with likely confidence for the patronymic formation while keeping the literal animal gloss secondary.