Ulley Family History

from Ulley near Sheffield (WR Yorks) which is recorded as Olleie in 1086 and Ullay in the 13th century. The place-name probably derives from Old English ūle ‘owl’ + lēah ‘wood woodland clearing’. The derived surname sometimes developed a prosthetic H-.

In the 18th and 19th centuries dialect pronunciation of final -ey produced the written forms Hulla(h) and Huller. In NR Yorks and northern WR Yorks (Burnsall and Bilton Ainsty are now in NR Yorks) it could alternatively derive from either of two places in Picardy called Ully-Saint-Georges (Oise) and Œuilly (Aisne) or from either of two neighbouring places in Haut-Marne NE France called Heuilley-Cotton and Heuilley-le Grand.

The 1304 bearer in particular might have Norman ancestry.