English: variant of Lye.French: habitational name
from Ley in Moselle.French and German: from a medieval personal
name, Eloy (Latin Eligius, a derivative of
eligere ‘to choose or elect’), made popular by a 6th-century
saint who came to be venerated as the patron of smiths and
horses.German (Rhineland): topographic name from Middle High
German leie ‘rock’, ‘stone’, ‘slate’, or a habitational name
from any of several places named with this word. Compare Leier.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
174,494
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Ley
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.co.uk.
You can find out where the majority of the Ley families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
Starting a family tree at Ancestry is not only the easiest way to organise, preserve
and share your family history, it's also a direct link to missing information about
your roots.