Bailey (surname)

Bailey
Origin
Meaning(from Bailiff) "to deliver"
Region of originEngland
Other names
Variant form(s)Baily, Baillie, Bailie[1][2][3]

Bailey is an English or Scottish surname. It is first recorded in Northumberland, where it was said to have been changed from Balliol due to the unpopularity of Scottish king John Balliol (d. 1314). There appears to be no historical evidence for this, and Bain concludes that the earliest form was Baillie or Bailli (recorded in the early 14th century).[4] The origin of the name is most likely from Anglo-Norman bailli, the equivalent of bailiff; bailie remains a regional Scottish variant of the term bailiff. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Norman name may have been locational, derived from Bailleul-En-Vimeu in Normandy.

  1. ^ "Bailey Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2014
  2. ^ "Bailey/Baillie Surname Origin". Bailey/Bayley,Baily, Etc Database. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Last Name Baillie". Surname DB. Name Origin Research. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  4. ^ Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946.